Thanks to the many years of work of Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Kozun, there is probably no person left in our country who has not heard about the Give Life Foundation. But few have heard about the annual World Children's Games winners, although this is the main result of many years of work. It is here that you will meet children who proved that everything was not in vain. They beat cancer.

"Games of winners": the beginning

Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun

For the first time, the Games of the Winners were held in Moscow in 2010. Then 200 children from 8 countries came to take part in sports and forget forever about the time when they could not even leave the ward. Over the course of several days, recent patients raced, played table tennis, archery, and received medals for their achievements. It was real play therapy.

Recent Patients Now Participate in Sports

The holiday was definitely a success. Therefore, a year later, "Give Life" ventured to hold the II World Children's Games of Winners. It was not an easy step for the foundation, which has never organized such large events on a regular basis. And yet they took the risk. As a result: 300 happy children, thousands of happy parents, volunteers and guests.

"Games of the Winners" - a real holiday for children

The Winners' Games became an annual event. From time to time, the number of participants and the scale of this grandiose holiday are increasing. Children not only compete in various types sports, but also participate in master classes, jump on trampolines, play with animators and take an endless number of photos, which they then show to friends.

"Games of winners-2017"

At the Games of the Winners, children are waiting not only for competitions, but also for interesting master classes.

Last year, the Games of the Winners were held for the second time with the support of Gosloto. More than 500 participants from 16 countries gathered in the CSKA sports complex. It all looked like a grandiose meeting of friends, because many guys come to the games not for the first time and were glad to see each other again.

The competition took place over three days. Among the guests, as always, there were many famous actors, musicians and sportsmen. They talked with the guys, played, and at the end of the day they awarded the winners.

Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Maria Aronova and Dinara Safina

Popular sports commentator Vladimir Stognienko did not miss the opportunity to talk with the small winners of the big sports themes. And, by the way, he found out that "girls are much stronger than boys, only they are shy."

Of course, on the last day there were tears, because I didn’t want to leave. But the year flew by unnoticed, and very soon we are waiting for the IX World Children's Games of the Winners. They will be held from August 3 to 5 in the already native CSKA sports complex.

Be a part of this grand celebration. Come by yourself, bring your family and friends. The kids really need your support.

From 2 to 4 June 2017 in Moscow in sports complex CSKA is hosting the 8th World Children's Winners' Games - the largest international competitions for children with cancer. The Games are hosted by the Russian charitable foundation Podari Zhizn. This year, more than 500 participants from 7 to 16 years old from Russia and fourteen more countries - from Ukraine to India, take part in the competition.

The atmosphere of this holiday is difficult to convey in words: such a concentration of joy, vital energy and happiness in one place I have not yet met. Today there are table tennis competitions and athletics. A joyful hum draws me in athletics arena. There is only one participant on eight lanes, the stands applaud and support Sasha, he overcomes the distance in a wheelchair, his victory will be marked with a separate medal at the evening awards in the individual classification.

Participants go to the start, holding hands tightly, and finish in the arms of mothers, volunteers and counselors. The participant from Moscow, who came running second, is hugged by her mother:

- Anechka, are you upset? You are a huge guy!

- Mom, we already won, why be upset?

Photo courtesy of Podari Zhizn Foundation volunteers

Team India greets their winner at the end of the race with cotton candy. Parents at this holiday are special people, the mother of a gold medalist at a distance of 60 meters in the category of 11 years old, flew in with her daughter and 13 other guys as part of a delegation from India, she can hardly speak because of emotions, but little Pandey willingly shares her joy:

- We flew for 5 hours or even more, and ran so little, but very quickly! And with us so many friends, counselors and clowns, a real holiday!

Chulpan Khamatova, co-founder of the foundation, talks about the Games: “This is an initiative of the foundation’s volunteers, eight years ago I could not imagine such a thing, we didn’t even have time to think about it then, we were only engaged in rescue, treatment, purchase of equipment, medicines. Nadya, one of our volunteers, came up with this idea in 2010. There were about 200 children at the first games. This year we have 15 countries, one of which is Uzbekistan, where only one girl came from, but we are very glad to cooperate. Foundations in Russia and around the world organize preparations for competitions, we try to guide them in this. They are looking for sponsors to pay for tickets to Moscow, but here we do everything completely. Volunteers of our foundation negotiate discounts and look for sponsors to organize accommodation, excursions, meals. We have, for example, a girl from Magadan, there are no funds there, she is such a self-nominated person, she turned to the governor of the region and they bought her tickets to Moscow.”

Many of the guys whom the Podari Zhizn Foundation helped to recover, today are volunteers, work as counselors at the games. In total, there are about 600 volunteers at the site, translators from all languages ​​of the participating countries, and assistants. Even the security service cooperates with the fund for free.

Nadezhda Kuznetsova, head of the Games of the Winners project, who came up with the idea of ​​the games, tells how this holiday developed: “For two years I took the guys to Poland, to the Cancer Olympiad. These are small competitions, one-day, but then we were so fired up with this idea. Children spend months in the hospital, some for several years, they can do everything there - draw, sing, play, but they cannot run, they cannot swim in the pool, play sports. When they recover, it's a huge contrast. They are real winners, and they are fantastically supportive, make friends, then communicate with guys from other countries. You can see the scale of this holiday yourself.”

Pediatric oncology is curable. However, saving a life is only half the battle. Cancer hits the whole body, but not only suffers physical health. The disease changes the child, and, having already been cured, he is forced to deal with fears and limitations. Fight to live like everyone else again.

Psychological rehabilitation is the main task of the Winners' Games. This sports for children with cancer. Their slogan - "after the history of the disease begins the history of victories." Looking at the participants in the games, children fighting cancer understand: everything is possible.

"Games of the Winners - 2017" were held in the sports complex of CSKA. In between competitions, children danced, played with volunteers, jumped on trampolines and rested on ottomans scattered around the hall

"Cooler Olympic champion"

Almost all of them had difficulty walking, sitting and even breathing a few years ago. Today they can run and jump. “Here, many people say to themselves: “And now that’s it. Now I have recovered. I compete like a real athlete, I am judged by real judges," Chulpan Khamatova, one of the founders of the Podari Zhizn Foundation, tells TASS.

About the Games of the Winners

The organizer is the Podari Zhizn Charitable Foundation. The games have been held annually since 2010. "Games of Winners - 2017" were held in Moscow on June 2–4.

The first competition was attended by 200 children from eight countries. This year - more than 500 children from different regions of Russia and 14 countries of the world.

Among the guys from Russia, not only those who were helped by "Give Life" perform at the games. There are wards of different funds here.

A child from 7 to 16 years old can take part in the games. Competitions are held in three age groups. This year the children competed in shooting, table tennis, football, athletics, swimming and chess. There are also special disciplines - check in wheelchairs and assisted walking.

This is where the kids gather different ages and from different countries. Some get cancer so early that they don't remember anything about it, like Linus Ratzel from Germany. When the boy was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia, he was only two years old. Now Linus is ten years old, he loves football and dreams of becoming a policeman.

Dasha Novikova is fourteen, two years ago she was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor. “My temperature began to rise for no reason. I was on sick leave for six months: I went to school, and the next day I had a temperature again,” she says. “Then my stomach increased.” Hospital, surgery, six rounds of chemotherapy. Dasha was engaged in oriental dances - they were forbidden to her. “Now it’s already possible, but I don’t want to,” she says. “I also lost my hair, the new ones grew darker and began to curl. And before they were straight.”

Linus Ratzel (sitting on the right) finished third in the athletics competition. He also plays football, and his favorite football player- Manuel Neuer

"What would I say to a child with cancer? Everything will be fine, because it cannot be otherwise,"-Dasha Novikova says

Dora Lonyay from Hungary also grew curls after chemotherapy. Once Dora was professionally engaged in taekwondo, she trained three times a week. And then she was diagnosed with acute leukemia. "During the treatment, I became very weak. I could not even climb the stairs - only when my mother and the doctor supported me from both sides," she says. Now everything is fine - Dora easily makes a bridge, plays tennis, and at the "Games of the Winners" she took second place in running. But taekwondo can no longer be practiced: the bones are weak.

Even if the disease has closed the child's path to big sport He has already won the main match of his life. Sport competitions as a "bridge" between illness and health were not chosen by chance. "In sports, too, one has to overcome pain and fatigue," says Chulpan Khamatova. "And this is comparable to what our children go through." Therefore, Olympians and Paralympians come here to support children. “Both in the fight for life and in the fight for medals, you must not give up and want to win,” volleyball player Yekaterina Gamova is sure. “But a person who has beaten cancer is cooler than an Olympic champion.”

"Both in sports and in the fight against cancer, you need to try, you need to find a goal and move forward," Dora Lonyay is sure.

Once upon a time, sports were the most important thing for Dora. After the illness, she will not be able to be a professional athlete. "Now I'm focused on my studies," says Dora. "And when I grow up, I want to work in the police."

"The doctor said the baby won't be able to move"

At the "Games of Winners" children not only compete with each other. Many of them are struggling with the consequences of their illness. So it was with Daniil Mityagin: right at the stadium, in front of the audience, he did what the doctors considered impossible.

Daniil is 17 years old, he is from the city of Vyksa Nizhny Novgorod region. Mom raised him alone. From the age of 13, the boy has been fighting: first for life, now for the opportunity to walk.

In the seventh grade, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the third stage. “The operation lasted 12 hours,” says Daniil’s mother Anzhelika. “The surgeon said that for the first time in his entire practice he was so pessimistic: the tumor was like a stone.” The doctors coped: after the operation, the pictures showed that the head was "clean". But the tumor has metastasized to spinal cord.

“The doctor said: “Now you should not think about how the child will live, but about how he just breathes on his own. You won't be able to move," recalls Angelica.

Daniel had to participate in walking with sticks and support. But already on the track, his escorts decided to let him go. For the first time since the age of 13, he walked a long way on his own, relying only on sticks. In the photo - Daniel and his mother Angelica

After the trepanation of the skull, Daniel could neither move nor eat. Months of therapy followed - first chemo, then radiation. Usually, children with cancer during treatment are allowed to go home for a while - to take a break from the hospital. Daniel was in bed for two years without interruption. Gradually learned to sit on the bed. Doctors did not advise taking lessons, and my eyesight did not allow me to study. Angelica began to read school textbooks aloud to him. For most healthy children, lessons are a duty. For a child with cancer, this is what gives him hope for the future.

The boy was discharged from the hospital with the words: "We have already done everything we could." Mother and son returned home. To start moving, rehabilitation was needed, and above all physical exercise. During the time that Daniel was bedridden, the muscles began to atrophy. In addition, the tumor touched the cerebellum - the part of the brain that is responsible for the coordination of movements.

“We have an apartment - 17 square meters. The fifth floor, you can’t lower the stroller,” says Angelica. “Yes, and he said:“ My classmates won’t see me in a wheelchair for anything. And the school is right across the street. The rehabilitation provided by compulsory medical insurance was not enough for the boy - his condition was too severe. Angelica began to write to charitable foundations and collect money through VKontakte. As a result, in the spring of this year, Daniel went to the Czech Republic. "There were very intensive classes, the baby was crying in pain," says Angelica. "The muscles hummed. It was impossible to get up, go to the toilet ... I endured. I understood that without this I would not get on my feet, "Daniil recalls.

So far, Daniil mostly uses a wheelchair. But doctors are sure: if you practice, he will definitely go

Daniil dreamed of going to the "Games of the Winners" a year ago, but then he was too weak. This year, according to the rules, he could not take part in them: he was already 17 years old. But they made an exception for the boy. At first it was assumed that he would participate in the race in wheelchairs. But the rehabilitation worked: the mother and son decided that he could walk on his own - with sticks and the support of his mother and a volunteer, but with his own legs. Daniil was alone on the track: his only competitor was illness. At some point, the mother and the volunteer decided to let him go. The boy noticed this only when he walked the distance to the end. A few more rehabilitations - and, perhaps, he will not need not only support, but also sticks.

After the hospital, Daniel switched to home schooling. In the autumn he will go to the eleventh grade, and then he will enter the medical school. "I believe that by helping others, I will help myself," he says.

“In ordinary life, you can hear something like “oh, move away, you can’t play ball,” says Galina Ovsyannikova. “Here and in rehabilitation camps, everything is different.” Her son Zakhar is 14 years old. He dreams of becoming an oligarch to build his Lego museum, and also an inventor-engineer and paleontologist. "Dinosaur skeletons attract me," he says. Zakhar also likes to eat delicious food - meat, rolls, kvass. "I like fast food too," he says, "but homemade food more". Seven years ago, the boy ate almost nothing: radiation therapy beat off his appetite.

Zakhar went to first grade, and he began to see double. At first they thought it was fatigue. Turned out he had a brain tumor and needed surgery. From his native Togliatti he was taken to Samara, then to Moscow.

“My parents were worried that I didn’t eat anything,” recalls Zakhar. “Once in the middle of the night I wanted syrniki, but by the time my mother baked, I already wanted more. Then we went to a cafe, and I got three servings.”

Zakhar Ovsyannikov has very diverse hobbies: he loves dinosaurs, Lego and robots, and in the future he dreams of becoming an oligarch

The charitable foundation of Konstantin Khabensky helped the boy to be treated and recover. “We were told: we are happy to help you,” recalls Zakhara’s mother Galina. “To be honest, I was a little surprised by such an attitude. After all, for us, the periphery, Moscow is Mars.”

Doctors are in no hurry to announce to cancer patients that they have finally recovered: there are too many relapses, the risks of relaxing from the first success and starting the disease are too great. Zakhar was operated on in 2011 and only five years later it was recognized that he had recovered. Then he first came to the "Games of the Winners". “I took first place in running. From the end, it’s true, but it doesn’t matter,” says Zakhar. “In shooting, I got eleventh. In chess, fifth.” This year he has first place in shooting, otherwise - no change.

“Here you are on the board,” Zakhar says. “No, I feel good with my classmates too. But here everyone understands you.” The main medal of the "Games of the Winners" is the opportunity to feel like everyone else.

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