Operation in Modesto gives Russian teen a chance to heal

As an orphan in Russia, Valya Andreeva didn't get proper care for a compound leg fracture she suffered in an August 2006 accident.

Russian doctors eventually tried to mend the two broken bones in her right leg but gave up and said they would have to amputate.

That wasn't an option for Patrick Day of Sonora-based Russian Orphan Rescue Inc. The nonprofit group and the Medical Relief Foundation of Modesto convinced local health care providers to volunteer their services to try to save the leg.

Andreeva, 18, was flown to the United States and underwent her first procedure Feb. 28 with orthopedic surgeon John Casey of Modesto. Doctors Medical Center and Modesto Radiology also are helping Andreeva free of charge.

"I looked at it and thought there was a good chance I could save her leg," Casey said. "Once I met her, she was a delightful young lady and I felt compelled to assist her."

During the surgery to evaluate the leg, Casey took cultures to check for infection. The tests revealed no lingering infection, so she could have surgery to graft the bones within three weeks.

Day met Andreeva in a small-town orphanage in Russia six years ago. Russian Orphan Rescue works in Russia and Ukraine trying to improve conditions for children who were abandoned or have lost their parents.

Andreeva's alcoholic mother left her with a Russian social services agency when the girl was in the first grade, Day said. Her father died in prison. She was raised in an orphanage in Supazhoke, a town that's a five-hour drive south of Moscow.

Day and Medical Relief Foundation President Graham Pierce were concerned that the girl wouldn't stand a chance if she lost the leg, because orphans in Russia are treated as second-class citizens, they said.

The orphan population swelled in Russia with the economic collapse that followed the end of communist rule, and their fortunes haven't improved much despite the recent economic surge.

Statistics show that within two years of leaving orphanages, many of the young people are in prison, homeless or addicted to drugs. Many of the girls turn to prostitution.

"She was a girl we were going to adopt at one time," said Day, who has taken 20 trips to Russia, some with his daughter Monica, 18. "Because of the bureaucracy and the finances involved, we decided it was better to help her there."

Andreeva needed more help after being struck by a motorcycle as she and two friends walked one night along a country road.

Three boys on a motorcycle saw the girls and swung the cycle around to give them a scare.

They weren't able to stop the motorcycle in time and hit Andreeva, throwing her to the ground. When she tried to stand, the bones protruding through her right leg went into the dirt.

She lay in the dirt for two or three hours until an ambulance arrived. She was taken to a rural hospital that was unable to deal with the compound fracture and did not clean the wound, Day said.

The next morning, she was taken to a larger hospital, where the wound was cleaned. In ideal situations, a compound fracture should be cleaned and the fracture stabilized within four hours, Pierce said.

Andreeva was in traction for a month, with little more to do than watch the cockroaches on the walls and the cats wandering the hallways. Day heard about the accident a week after it happened and flew to Russia to be with her in the hospital.

Broken bones would not heal

After she was removed from traction, doctors put her leg in the first of two contraptions that would give her constant pain for 16 months.