Chernobyl children:‘Christmas starts for us when Igor arrives’

The Cox family watched with amazement Belarusian orphan Igor Shadzkou’s reaction as he experienced rain drops touching his skin and saw stars in the skies for the very first time.

Seven years later, Marie Cox, her husband Dermot and four sons say never mind Santa, as their Christmas does not begin until Igor arrives to their home in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

“We’re really looking forward to it. Christmas would not be the same without having Igor in our house. He is part of our family,” says Marie.

Host families

Igor (14), is one of 30 special-needs children arriving from the Chernobyl region of Belarus into Dublin Airport today to spend Christmas with their host families in Ireland.

Many of the children live in areas contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl power plant explosion in 1986, and their stay here is organised by the Chernobyl Children International (CCI) charity.

Igor has severe physical deformities, no use of his legs, spina bifida and an intellectual disability.

Marie, a psychiatric nurse, said she first got involved with the organisation in 2000.

“My youngest was a baby. I just felt my family had so much and it was important for my boys to see some children are not as lucky as they are,” she said.

In 2004, she first visited Belarus and in 2007 started working part-time for the organisation as a medical co-ordinator.

“I say to all volunteers all the children are wonderful, but there’s going to be one child that will grab at your heart. For me it was Igor,” she said.

Marie explains that he first arrived at their home through a medical emergency at Christmas in 2007.

“He had a pressure sore and the wound was open down to his bone. We were trying to save his leg,” she says.

When Igor first arrived, he did not want anyone near him and pushed people away.

“After a while, he would allow us to hug him and sit on our laps. Now he gives everyone a kiss before going to bed,” says Marie.

‘Resilient’

“He’s very resilient and a character. There’s a lot of noise around him, a very loving and affectionate child.”

“Igor’s also very clever, especially with electronics or anything to do with music, he picks it up straight away.”

Marie says Igor was fascinated with the stars and outdoor lights at night when he arrived in Mayo.

She said because he had lived in an institution all his life, had physical restrictions and no wheelchair at the time, he had never been out at night.

“The look of awe and wonder on his face. At night he’d pull back the curtain to have another look to see if it was still there,” she said.

Marie believed Igor would have been brought outside only in good weather, which was why the rain shocked him.

“He had never experienced rain and wind. He nearly lost his life when it rained, he couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Things we take for granted, but to Igor, everything is a new experience.”

“Christmas starts for us on Thursday, when Igor arrives.”

CCI chief executive Adi Roche said the true meaning of Christmas was about giving.

“While the needs here at home are great, it is marvellous to see the Irish people reaching out to those beyond our shores and showing love to abandoned and orphaned children who live with huge physical and intellectual disabilities,” she said.

“Nothing as magical as this will ever have happened in their lives.”