MIDDLEBORO (CBS) — More than a decade after helping hundreds of children in the Chernobyl area receive medical treatment for illnesses linked to the world’s worst nuclear disaster, a Middleborough woman is once again raising funds for the people of Ukraine. is collecting.
After dealing with thyroid cancer, Lorna Brunel decided to help out with the Chernobyl Children’s Project in 2006. Through this project, Brunelle helped the second generation of Chernobyl victims, children who were exposed to radiation in their mothers’ wombs. Over three summers, hundreds of children came to Massachusetts for treatment for problems ranging from thyroid cancer to brain tumors to heart problems.
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“All these little kids have a big scar, which they call the Chernobyl necklace, and at the time my scar was still in the process of healing,” Brunel said.
Now, all these children are adults and many of them are in trouble again as the Russian war against Ukraine continues.
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Brunel found himself in tears at the prospect of a repeat of grim history as Chernobyl was the site of a shelling last week.
“I don’t even know if I can even allow myself to go there because it’s totally overwhelming. I can’t even imagine it and I just pray it doesn’t happen,” she said.
Brunelle says she is committed to helping Ukraine’s many young adults with whom she keeps in touch.
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she is organize a fundraiser To help Ukrainian refugees to be held on 2 April