15:38  ,  March 23, 2014

A life that’s worth 5 million

Championat.com Internet Sports Media and Orange Sky charity foundation have started raising funds for treatment of a young football player Grisha Simonyan.

The 19-year old Grisha Simonyan was born and raised in Moscow. As many kids of his age, he went to school and played football in the neighborhood dreaming of becoming a professional athlete. At 7, he joined his first football team and started to fulfill his dream. In 2006, Grisha started playing for Children and Youth Sports School 82 team and soon achieved the best scorer title. Grisha scored at least 15 goals a season and was frequently honored as the best player of the Futsal Youth League of Moscow. In 2011, Grisha passed the exams and entered a medical college at Moscow State University of Railway Engineering and went on trial to different professional football clubs, including PFC CSKA and FC Spartak.

“The boy has always been very energetic and active, be it in a football team or at school,” says Grisha’s father Vardan. “All the troubles started the day he accidentally hit the goalpost with his head during a football game. It happened four years ago. We immediately went to the doctor, who put in stitches. But no one even suggested doing an MRI. Can you imagine my son’s shock when he suggested not hitting a ball with his head? How is it possible for a football player not to hit a ball with his head? How do you go on in professional sports without doing that?”

Who knows if this accident is actually connected with what happened to Grisha afterwards, but after some time passed, Grisha started having severe headaches, became weaker… All that resulted in a grave illness.

“At the end of September Grisha started having those headaches, but he didn’t show it for some time,” says Vardan Grishaevich. “At first we thought it was due to his physical development. But the pain increased in October and didn’t subside during 20 days and we decided to go to the doctor. Then we went through the first course of treatment. It didn’t help. Then we went to another doctor who instantly sent Grisha to do an MRI. The next day I was shocked at the diagnosis, my wife collapsed. The doctor said he had a brain tumor. We had no time to think. Grisha had a surgery, and the doctor brought us joyful news: the tumor was benign. However, a week later that diagnosis was proved wrong… “Cancerous growth”, those words made me desperate. I was ready to find all the doctors in the world to save my son…”

Right now Grisha is undergoing treatment in Russia. His family has already spent a lot of money on numerous treatments and surgeries. However, they are still very far from a happy ending.

“I’m not quite sure how much money we still need to complete a full course of treatment,” says Grisha’s father in dismay. “To save the boy’s life we need to bring him to Israel or Germany. But I cannot imagine how much it will cost us. The doctors say that the treatment in Germany costs at least €100 000. It’s the minimum price! I’m not sure how much it is in terms of roubles. I suppose it’s more than 4 000 000 roubles. I don’t know what to say right now… I wouldn’t wish this to anyone, even my worst enemy”

It is still possible to help Grisha Simonyan’s fight his illness, and together we can do this. Indifference is our worst enemy. Such a disaster could fall on anyone. We believe that by joining our efforts we will help Grisha be healthy and happy again, enjoying the best of his life. Who knows, maybe some day his dream of becoming a football player will finally come true. Please, help in any way possible.

Orange Sky charity foundation was established in 2012 to help children in need of medical treatment and social protection. Its main goal is to raise funds by reaching out to sports fans, famous athletes and sports organizations. We help the kids in overcoming difficult circumstances in life and trying to prove that there is always a way to get healthy and have a happy life

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