From June 2 to June 4, 2017 in Moscow in sports complex CSKA hosts the eighth World Children's "Winners' Games" - the largest international competitions for children who have had cancer. The games are hosted by the Russian charitable foundation Podari Zhizn. This year, more than 500 participants from 7 to 16 years old from Russia and fourteen other countries - from Ukraine to India - are taking part in the competition.
The atmosphere of this holiday is difficult to convey in words: I have never seen such a concentration of joy, vital energy and happiness in one place. Today there are table tennis competitions and athletics. A joyful hum draws me in athletics arena. There is only one participant on eight tracks, the stands applaud and support Sasha, he covers the distance in a wheelchair, his victory will be marked with a separate medal at the evening awards ceremony in the individual competition.
Participants start at the start holding hands tightly and finish in the arms of mothers, volunteers and counselors. A participant from Moscow, who came running second, is hugged by her mother:
- Anya, aren’t you upset? You are great!
- Mom, we’ve already won, why be upset?
Photo courtesy of volunteers of the Gift of Life Foundation
Team India greets its winner at the end of the course with cotton candy. Parents at this holiday are special people, the mother of a gold medalist in the 60-meter distance in the 11-year-old category, flew in with her daughter and 13 other children as part of a delegation from India. She is almost unable to speak from emotions, but little Pandey willingly shares her joy:
- We flew for a whole 5 hours or even more, and we ran so little, but very quickly! And there are so many friends with us, counselors and clowns, a real holiday!
Co-founder of the foundation Chulpan Khamatova talks about the Games: “This is an initiative of the foundation’s volunteers, eight years ago I could not imagine this, we had no time to even think about it, we were only involved in rescue, treatment, purchasing equipment, medicines. This idea was invented by Nadya, one of our volunteers, in 2010; there were about 200 children at the first games. This year we have 15 countries, one of which is Uzbekistan, where only one girl came from, but we are very happy to cooperate. Foundations in Russia and around the world organize preparations for competitions, and we try to guide them in this. They are looking for sponsors to pay for tickets to Moscow, but here we do everything completely. Our foundation’s volunteers negotiate discounts and look for sponsors to organize accommodation, excursions, and meals. We have, for example, a girl from Magadan, there are no funds there, she is such a self-nominated person, she turned to the regional governor and they bought her tickets to Moscow.”
Many of the children whom the Gift of Life Foundation helped to recover are now volunteers and work as counselors at games. In total, there are about 600 volunteers on the site, translators from all languages of the participating countries, and assistants. Even the security service cooperates with the fund for free.
The head of the “Winners’ Games” project, Nadezhda Kuznetsova, who came up with the idea of the games, tells how this holiday developed: “I took the children to Poland for two years, to the Oncology Olympics. These are small competitions, one-day ones, but we were so excited about this idea. Children spend months in the hospital, some for several years, they can do everything there - draw, sing, play, but they cannot run, swim in the pool, or play sports. When they get better, it's a huge contrast. They are real winners, and they provide fantastic support, friendship, and then communicate with guys from other countries. You can see the scale of this holiday for yourself.”
Thanks to the many years of work of Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Kozun, there is probably not a person left in our country who has not heard of the Gift of Life Foundation. But few people have heard about the annual World Children's Games, although this is the main result of many years of work. This is where you will meet children who proved that everything was not in vain. They beat cancer.
"Winner Games": the beginning
Chulpan Khamatova and Dina KorzunThe Winners Games were first held in Moscow in 2010. Then 200 children from 8 countries came to take part in sports competitions and forever forget about the time when they could not even go outside the ward. Over the course of several days, recent patients ran races, played table tennis, did archery and received medals for their achievements. It was real play therapy.
Recent patients now participate in sports The holiday was definitely a success. Therefore, a year later, “Gift of Life” decided to hold the II World Children’s Winners’ Games. This was not an easy step for the foundation, which had never organized such large events on a regular basis. And yet they took the risk. As a result: 300 satisfied children, thousands of happy parents, volunteers and guests.
“Winners’ Games” is a real holiday for children The “Winners Games” have become an annual event. Time after time, both the number of participants and the scale of this grandiose holiday increase. Children not only compete in various types sports, but also participate in master classes, jump on trampolines, play with animators and take an endless number of photographs, which they then show to friends.
"Winners' Games 2017"
At the “Winners Games” children will not only have competitions, but also interesting master classes Last year, the Winners' Games were held for the second time with the support of Gosloto. More than 500 participants from 16 countries gathered at the CSKA sports complex. It all looked like a grand meeting of friends, because many of the guys came to the games not for the first time and were glad to see each other again.
The competition took place over three days. Among the guests, as always, were many famous actors, musicians and athletes. They talked with the guys, played, and at the end of the day awarded the winners.
Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Maria Aronova and Dinara Safina Popular sports commentator Vladimir Stognienko did not miss the opportunity to communicate with small winners for big ones sports themes. And, by the way, I found out that “girls are much stronger than boys, only they are shy.”
Of course, there were tears on the last day, because I didn’t want to leave. But the year has flown by, and very soon the IX World Children's Games of Winners awaits us. They will be held from August 3 to August 5 in the already native CSKA sports complex.
Become a part of this grand celebration. Come yourself, bring your family and friends. The guys really need your support.
Children's oncology is curable. However, saving a life is only half the battle. Cancer affects the entire body, but it affects not only physical health. The disease changes the child, and, having already been cured, he is forced to fight fears and restrictions. Fight to live like everyone else again.
Psychological rehabilitation is the main task of the Winners' Games. This sports for children who have had cancer. Their slogan is “after the history of the disease, the history of victories begins.” Looking at the participants in the games, children fighting cancer understand: anything is possible.
"Winners' Games - 2017" took place at the CSKA sports complex. During breaks between competitions, children danced, played with volunteers, jumped on trampolines and relaxed on ottomans scattered around the hall.
"Cooler Olympic champion"
Just a few years ago, almost every one of them had difficulty walking, sitting, or even breathing. Today they can run and jump. “A lot of people here say to themselves: “But now that’s it. Now I have recovered. I compete like a real athlete, I am judged by real judges,” Chulpan Khamatova, one of the founders of the Gift of Life foundation, tells TASS.
About the "Games of Winners"
The organizer is the Gift of Life charity foundation. The games have been held annually since 2010. "Winners' Games - 2017" took place in Moscow on June 2–4.
200 children from eight countries took part in the first competition. This year there are more than 500 children from different regions of Russia and 14 countries of the world.
Among the children from Russia, not only those who were helped by “Gift of Life” perform at the games. There are wards of different foundations here.
Children from 7 to 16 years old can take part in the games. Competitions take place in three age groups. This year the children competed in shooting, table tennis, football, athletics, swimming and chess. There are also special disciplines - race wheelchairs and assisted walking.
Children of all ages and backgrounds gather here. different countries. Some people got cancer so early that they don't remember anything about it, like Linus Ratzel from Germany. When the boy was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia, he was only two years old. Now Linus is ten years old, he loves football and dreams of becoming a policeman.
Dasha Novikova is fourteen; two years ago she was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor. “My temperature began to rise for no reason. I was on sick leave for six months: I went to school, and the next day the temperature returned,” she says. “Then my stomach increased.” Hospital, surgery, six courses of chemotherapy. Dasha was studying oriental dances- they were forbidden to her. “Now it’s possible, but I don’t want to,” she says. “My hair also fell out, the new ones grew darker and began to curl. But before they were straight.”
Linus Ratzel (seated right) took third place in the track and field competition. He also plays football, and his favorite footballer is- Manuel Neuer
“What would I tell a child with cancer? Everything will be fine, because it can’t be any other way,”-says Dasha Novikova
Dora Lonyai from Hungary also grew curls after chemotherapy. Dora once practiced taekwondo professionally, training three times a week. And then she was diagnosed with acute leukemia. “During the treatment, I became very weak. I couldn’t even climb the stairs - only when my mother and the doctor supported me on both sides,” she says. Now everything is fine - Dora easily makes a bridge, plays tennis, and at the “Winners Games” she took second place in running. But I can’t practice taekwondo anymore: my bones are weak.
Even if illness has blocked the child’s path to big sport, he has already won the main competition of his life. Sport competitions It was not by chance that they were chosen as a “bridge” between illness and health. “In sports, you also have to overcome pain and fatigue,” says Chulpan Khamatova. “And this is comparable to what our children go through.” That's why Olympians and Paralympians come here to support children. “Both in the fight for life and in the fight for medals, you need to not give up and want to win,” volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova is sure. “But a person who beat cancer is better than an Olympic champion.”
“Both in sports and in the fight against cancer, you have to try, you have to find a goal and move forward,” Dora Loniai is sure
Once upon a time, the most important thing for Dora was playing sports. After her illness, she will not be able to be a professional athlete. “Now I’m focusing on my studies,” says Dora. “And when I grow up, I want to work in the police.”
“The doctor said the baby won’t be able to move.”
At the Winners' Games, children not only compete with each other. Many of them are struggling with the consequences of their illness. This is what happened with Daniil Mityagin: right at the stadium, in front of the spectators, he did what the doctors considered impossible.
Daniil is 17 years old, he is from the city of Vyksa, Nizhny Novgorod region. His mother raised him alone. Since the age of 13, the boy has been fighting: first for life, now for the opportunity to walk.
In seventh grade, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, stage three. “The operation lasted 12 hours,” says Daniil’s mother Angelica. “The surgeon said that for the first time in his entire practice he was so pessimistic: the tumor was like a stone.” The doctors succeeded: after the operation, the pictures showed that the head was “clean”. But the tumor metastasized to the spinal cord.
“The doctor said: “Now you should not think about how the child will live, but about him simply breathing on his own. He won’t move for you,” recalls Angelica.
Daniel had to participate in walking with sticks and support. But already on the path his accompanying people decided to let him go. For the first time since he was 13, he walked a long way on his own, relying only on sticks. In the photo - Daniil and his mother Angelica
After craniotomy, Daniil could neither move nor eat. Months of therapy followed - first chemotherapy, then radiation. Usually, children with cancer are allowed to go home for a while during treatment - to take a break from the hospital. Daniel lay in bed for two years without breaks. Gradually I learned to sit on the bed. Doctors did not advise taking lessons, and my eyesight did not allow me to study. Angelica began reading school textbooks aloud to him. For most healthy children, homework is a chore. For a child with cancer, this is what gives him hope for the future.
The boy was discharged from the hospital with the words: “We have already done everything we could.” Mother and son returned home. To start moving, rehabilitation was needed, and above all physical exercise. During the time that Daniel was bedridden, his muscles began to atrophy. In addition, the tumor affected the cerebellum, the part of the brain that is responsible for coordinating movements.
“We have an apartment - 17 square meters. The fifth floor, you can’t push a stroller,” says Angelica. “And he said: “My classmates will never see me in a wheelchair.” And the school is right across the road.” The rehabilitation provided under compulsory medical insurance was not enough for the boy - his condition was too serious. Angelica began writing to charities and collecting money through VKontakte. As a result, in the spring of this year, Daniil went to the Czech Republic. “There were very intense classes there, the child was crying in pain,” says Angelica. “The muscles were buzzing. It was impossible to get up, to walk to the toilet... I endured it. I understood that without this I would not get back on my feet,” recalls Daniil.
For now, Daniil mostly gets around in a wheelchair. But the doctors are sure: if you study, he will definitely go
Daniil dreamed of going to the “Winners Games” a year ago, but then he was too weak. This year, according to the rules, he could not take part in them: he was already 17 years old. But an exception was made for the boy. At first it was assumed that he would participate in the race in wheelchairs. But the rehabilitation worked: mother and son decided that he could go on his own - with sticks and the support of his mother and volunteer, but with his own legs. Daniel was alone on the track: his only competitor was illness. At some point, his mother and volunteer decided to let him go. The boy noticed this only when he walked the distance to the end. A few more rehabilitations - and perhaps he will not need not only support, but also sticks.
After the hospital, Daniil switched to home schooling. In the fall he will go to the eleventh grade, and then will enter medical school. “I believe that by helping others, I will help myself,” he says.
“In ordinary life, you can hear something like, ‘Oh, move away, you can’t play ball,’ says Galina Ovsyannikova. “Here and in rehabilitation camps, everything is different.” Her son Zakhar is 14 years old. He dreams of becoming an oligarch to build his own Lego museum, and also an engineer-inventor and paleontologist. "I'm drawn to dinosaur skeletons," he says. Zakhar also loves to eat delicious food - meat, rolls, kvass. “I also like fast food,” he says, “but I prefer homemade food.” Seven years ago, the boy ate almost nothing: radiation therapy killed his appetite.
Zakhar went to first grade, and he began to see double. At first they thought it was fatigue. It turned out that he had a brain tumor and needed surgery. From his native Tolyatti he was taken to Samara, then to Moscow.
“My parents were worried that I wasn’t eating anything,” recalls Zakhar. “One day in the middle of the night I wanted cheesecakes, but by the time my mother baked it, I didn’t want it anymore. Then we went to a cafe, and I had three servings.”
Zakhar Ovsyannikov has very diverse hobbies: he loves dinosaurs, Lego and robots, and in the future he dreams of becoming an oligarch
The charity foundation of Konstantin Khabensky helped the boy receive treatment and recovery. “They told us: we are happy to help you,” recalls Zakhara’s mother Galina. “To be honest, I was a little surprised by this attitude. After all, for us, the periphery, Moscow is Mars.”
Doctors are in no hurry to announce to cancer patients that they have finally recovered: relapses occur too often, the risks of relaxing from the first success and starting the disease are too great. Zakhar was operated on in 2011 and only five years later it was recognized that he had recovered. It was then that he first came to the “Winners’ Games”. “I took first place in running. From the end, it’s true, but that doesn’t matter,” says Zakhar. “In shooting – eleventh. In chess – fifth.” This year he has first place in shooting, otherwise no changes.
“Here you fit in,” says Zakhar. “No, I feel good with my classmates too. But here everyone understands you.” The main medal of the “Winners’ Games” is the opportunity to feel like everyone else.
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