Aknazar Sheri is the youngest of four children in a large family from Kazakhstan. His birth was a great joy for the entire family — but along with that joy came a huge challenge. Aknazar was diagnosed with spina bifida immediately after birth.

From the first weeks of his life, the family began researching the condition and looking for ways to help. Through support groups on social media, the parents reached out to Professor Shimon Rochkind, one of the leading neurosurgeons who performs microneurosurgical operations on children with this diagnosis at Assuta Medical Center in Israel. He held an online consultation and confirmed the urgent need for surgery. According to the professor, the disease had already begun to affect the baby’s legs — Aknazar started walking on his heels, which indicates the early stage of deterioration.

Aknazar is now just one year old. He’s starting to crawl, exploring the world with curiosity, full of joy when he sees his dad, and trying to stand by holding onto furniture — but he can’t keep his balance. Despite the diagnosis, he remains a smiling, open, and bright child. Unfortunately, time is not on his side — the surgery must be done before he turns 1.5 years old.

The cost of the operation is €50 000. For a family where the father works as an engineer at a power plant and the mother is a nurse on maternity leave, this amount is unaffordable. They can’t do it without the help of kind people. This is their only chance to save their son from disability and give him a full life.

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The fundraising for Aknazar Sheri is now closed! His surgery was successful 🙏

On October 19, Professor Shimon Rochkind performed surgery on Aknazar Sheri. He removed a lipoma caused by a congenital condition – spina bifida.

The surgery was extremely complex. The spinal nerve roots were tightly intertwined with the tumor tissue – the lipoma. According to the professor, such cases are often considered inoperable: surgeons usually remove the lipoma together with the nerve roots, which leads to severe complications and disability.

But Shimon Rochkind is one of the best specialists in this field. He managed to carefully remove only the pathological tissues without damaging the roots.

Thank you to each of you for supporting our important mission.