A Little Flame that Keeps Warming Your Heart

Children come to the Winners’ Games with their parents, because celebrating victory is always better when you have someone to share it with. It is noticed that participating in the Winners’ Games changes children: they become more outgoing and driven, they make new friends and become interested in different countries. The mother of a young athlete from Ukraine, Zahar Botsman, is sharing her thoughts below.

What are the Winners’ Games to us? These Games are like a little flame that keeps warming our hearts. It’s one of the events that fills a mother’s heart with hope and optimism. It’s like one big family of kind hearts. These Games are full of laughter and kindness; everyone’s eyes shine with happiness. Everyone is being himself; there is no pretence, no masks. There is just lots of happiness. Here you learn what true love is. There is more liveliness than anywhere else. People who come here know the true meaning of life. They know what LIVING means. That’s why it’s so important for children and their parents to come to these events, and more than once or even twice.

Our team from Ukraine was mostly made up of teenage kids from Kiev and other regions of the country. My son is eight years old and he was the youngest in his team. He doesn’t know the whole truth about his diagnosis because he is too young to that. But thanks to some tactless or, I should say, rather inconsiderate coverage in the media, he is starting to ask questions that are too serious for a child of his age. From my experience and after getting to know children from our team and speaking to their parents, I am absolutely sure: our children should be growing up with the Games. This way they will be prepared to face the truth about their diseases and about the society around them. They will be more prepared for what awaits them out there.

We were preparing for the Games quite seriously. Zahar ‘cancelled’ his summer break from the chess club and attended it all summer long. He set a goal for himself – a medal at the Games. And he did it!

Even though we had attended the Games in 2011, this year the Games had surprises for us left and right. It was amazing how well organized everything was. Every child had his or her individual schedule listing the beginning of every event, including competitions, meal times, different fun activities, etc. It was very convenient.

I am not a football fan, but the football that I saw in our age bracket (7 – 9 years) impressed everybody. Last year Zahar couldn’t play football, but the ‘football spirit’ was so contagious in our team, that Zahar just had to do it this year. When he was signing up for the events, there was no doubt – Zahar wanted to be on a football team. I was really impressed by the idea of making up international teams this year. Children from different countries were united in each team; they got to know each other and became friends. The evening before the game kids had a master-class lead by professional players from Torpedo. Playing with a professional football player is a dream-come-true for any boy!

On the field everything was for real. Except sometimes players ended up scoring in their own goals. When feet were not enough, kids would use their hands. So what if a ref is stopping the game and signalling a penalty. Hands are more reliable and you know for sure where the ball will end up. And when needed, any mother would run out onto the field to tie shoelaces. It was a great game, full of laughter. Those kids were phenomenal!

Chess. Well, that’s no child’s play, if you ask me. Judges actually recognized Zahar: they remembered him for his prize-winning performance in 2010. It was nice to see his opponents from last year attend the Games again. Zahar played very well; he was calm and confident. He won three games out of four. Our team’s volunteers and myself were watching the games and could only guess about how they were turning out by the faces of Zahar’s opponents. Zahar’s face didn’t show any emotion at all. They came later on, during the award ceremony. Zahar had dreamed about that moment for a year. And he worked very hard to get his prize.

The activity village was like a republic of its own: so many options, everything was so interesting and entertaining. Anybody and everybody, no matter the age, could enjoy this special atmosphere of childhood happiness. One could decorate a T-shirt for a younger sister, make a cake of soap for a dad, or go jump on a trampoline with the mom. I am not even sure my son and I had enough time to sample and enjoy everything that was offered there.

Thanks to the Winners’ Games, Zahar realized that learning foreign languages is really worth the effort. He even got to practice whatever knowledge he had while he was jumping on the trampolines with kids from other countries. I think it would encourage him to study languages when he goes back to school.

When we returned from Moscow, we went to see our dear doctor, Vera Gavrilovna Redkina, and shared our medals and memories with her. Our Hematology department has a so-called LIFE board that displays pictures of children who have recovered from their diseases. And now there is a special place for the Winners’ Games on it.  It gives hope to the children who are undergoing treatment and for their parents.

I would like to point out that events like these are important not only for our. They are just as important and meaningful for us, parents. It is so important to realize that the worst times are over; they are behind us. It is so encouraging to know that we are not alone. And it is true – we are not alone. We have this incredible rescue team of doctors, volunteers and just kind hearts. And our winning at the Games is not just a victory of one little boy. It is OUR victory - we all did it, together. Thank you all so much for OUR victory! Thank you all for helping my son have dreams, set goals for himself and work hard to achieve those goals.