Over break I watched a powerful and intriguing documentary called "Chernobyl Heart". The documentary is about the families with radiation problems living in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
In 1986 there was a nuclear plant disaster in Chernobyl that released 90 times the radioactivity of the bomb that hit Hiroshima. The disaster left behind radioactive material in it's outer lying regions mainly Belarus. In Belarus only 15-20% of kids are born with normal vitals. 99% of Belarus is contaminated but most refuse to leave their homeland. By not leaving it is creating an even bigger problem for these people.
Most kids are born with defects such as thyroid cancer, congenital birth and heart defects and some are born with "Chernobyl Heart", which means there are holes in their heart which can be treated but the waiting list is miles long.
The biggest thing that stuck out to me was a part where an international doctor sent over to Belarus to treat a young girl for "Chernobyl Heart". The doctor gets caught up in what he is doing and after successfully operating on the girl gets overtaken with gratitude from the emotional parents. The parents cannot thank him enough and the doctor responds, ""I appreciate this is a bit of a miracle for them...but we have a certain responsibility to these kids."
The doctor gets a bit emotional and overtaken with his feelings for the girl and her parents but, continues to do his job because he has a responsibility and he knows it.
I think that scene just goes to show how blessed most of us are and how out of touch most kids are with what else is out there. I had no idea any of this was going on before watching this documentary. After watching it I feel a tad frustrated in our media because of how centralized and how much it lacks focus of what's really important. I recommend this documentary to anyone because of its powerful message and in depth view of what is going on over there after the disaster.
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