Helping the children left behind by rare medical conditions

A child does not understand what a “rare neurological condition” means. They do not read medical reports, nor can they grasp the cost of a complex surgery.

What they understand is what they see, and what they are missing. Other children run, while they cannot. Their friends speak, while they cannot hear. Their parents smile, but at night they fall silent.

Behind every diagnosis, however, there is a family that has already exhausted every possible option. Searching for solutions in languages they do not speak, writing to clinics without knowing whether there will be a response, and holding on to a hope that is tested every single day.

These families do not ask for pity. They need someone to stand by them.

Since 2016, this is exactly what the Together Forever Foundation has been doing. It identifies the right doctors, secures the necessary resources and opens doors where access is not a given.

Then the change becomes visible. Children who could not move, hear or stand begin to reclaim their lives.

Over nearly a decade, the Foundation has been part of many such stories. Stories of courage, resilience and second chances. Salomia, Anastasia and Saveliy are just three of them, but together they offer a glimpse of what collective support can mean for a child and their family.

Salomia was five years old when the first symptoms appeared. There was sudden weakness in her legs, fainting without warning, and the same fear every day: could this be the day she suffered a stroke?

Moyamoya disease, a rare condition that blocks the brain’s arteries, left no room for delay. Yet her parents went from doctor to doctor in Moldova without finding answers. It was six years of uncertainty and six years of fear.

The Together Forever Foundation raised €270,000 for two critical surgeries in Zurich. The first was successfully performed in February 2025 by Dr Nadia Khan, consultant neurosurgeon, followed by a second in August.

During the procedures, five out of the six affected vessels were operated on, an extraordinary medical outcome that significantly reduced the risk of stroke and gave Salomia a real chance at a full, healthy life.

Today, Salomia runs. She laughs. She lives like every child her age.

Anastasia’s story was different, but no less painful. She was born with microtia, and two unsuccessful surgeries not only failed to help, but worsened her condition. Her hearing was limited, communication was difficult, and her daily life became increasingly isolated. At ten years old, she watched her peers play and talk, unable to take part.

The Foundation raised €84,175 for her treatment at the Global Hearing clinic in the United States. There, Dr Joseph Roberson, specialist in otology, identified a cholesteatoma, a dangerous tumour that had begun to affect her skull. The surgery she underwent with the support of the Foundation proved critical in saving her life.

Her journey, though, did not end there. While her hearing was not restored during that procedure, the determination of her parents, along with the continued support of donors, led to an additional operation to install a hearing device. That, in turn, finally allowed Anastasia to hear, connect and fully engage with the world around her.

Today, Anastasia hears, speaks and laughs with her friends. She is no longer left behind.

Saveliy, meanwhile, was born prematurely, weighing just 990 grams. The first years of his life were spent in hospitals, marked by respiratory difficulties and continuous treatments. His diagnosis of cerebral palsy came with a prediction his parents refused to accept: that he might never walk.

The Together Forever Foundation raised the final €18,000 needed for a specialised surgical procedure by Dr Roy Nuzzo, paediatric orthopaedic surgeon, in the United States. One year later, Saveliy is taking his first steps. Slowly and steadily.

Beside him, his mother cries and smiles at the same time.

They are three different stories, yet they share one common beginning. Behind every medical success, there is something deeper: people who chose not to remain indifferent. People who chose to act.

The Together Forever Foundation continues, every day, to stand by children in need, offering each one the most valuable gift: a second chance at life. Because every child’s smile makes tomorrow brighter.

The Together Forever Foundation is a charitable, non-profit organisation based in Limassol. It was founded in October 2016 by Sergey Stopnevich, with the mission of providing specialised medical care to children suffering from rare and severe neurological disorders of the brain and spinal cord.

The Foundation supports children diagnosed with conditions such as Moyamoya disease, epilepsy, congenital malformations of the central nervous system, neurogenic paralysis, brain or spinal cord tumours, as well as other complex neurological conditions requiring specialised medical intervention.

For the Together Forever Foundation, solidarity is not an abstract concept. It is action. It is the decision that no child is left behind, and that every child receives the care they need, when they need it.