Students grant gift of music to peer awaiting transplant

[okarol]

Students grant gift of music to peer awaiting transplant

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
By Kris Todd, Daily Reporter Staff

When a Ukrainian youth awaiting a kidney transplant had a port installed and began dialysis treatments last week, a few of his teenaged peers in Spencer pulled together in order to present him with the gift of music to make his wait a bit brighter.

After news came in May that Bohdan "Bo" Kiyanchuk, 16, was critically ill and that his remaining kidney would not last much longer, Dr. Ken and Karen Hunziker, who have served as Bo's local proxy parents over the last few years as he's undergone various hospitalizations and treatments, jumped into action once again.

Since the teenager is not an American citizen, and being put on a donor list is not an option, he has to rely on one of his six siblings for a kidney. The Hunzikers have worked tirelessly to ensure that this happens.

Following the visas of his brother, Vasyl, and sister, Oksana, being denied in mid-October, the two potential kidney donors received permission to travel to the United States one week later. Bo's siblings, who flew standby without a translator, arrived in Spencer on Sunday, Oct. 28.

They, along with their younger brother, are currently residing with the Hunziker family.

Since their arrival, both Vasyl and Oksana have undergone intensive emotional, psychological and physical testing in Sioux Falls to determine if either is a good candidate for organ donation.

"She seems to be the match - we hope," Karen Hunziker said of Oksana.

But the kidney transplant, which had tentatively been scheduled to occur this week at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, has been delayed.

"We're now hoping for next week," Karen Hunziker reported Monday afternoon.

The teenager, meanwhile, spent four days in Spencer Hospital last week having a port installed in his upper torso so he could begin dialysis treatments. As Bo awaits a potential transplant, he will continue dialysis treatments three times a week.

When Spencer High School (SHS) students heard that Bo had been admitted to the hospital, they turned to music, something many of them find enjoyment from.

"We heard that he was in the hospital and that he wasn't doing so good, his kidney was starting to fail on him," said Liz Taylor. "He doesn't know a whole lot of people here, so he was really bored. And, of course, he doesn't understand a lot of English. He knows enough to get around, but he doesn't watch a lot of American TV while he's over here. So, he was just sitting there all day doing nothing."

While SHS Concert Choir participants donated money to purchase their Ukrainian peer an iPod, members of the much smaller Chromatic Jazz group delivered it to him Wednesday in the hospital.

"We've done this before when we've had choir members in the hospital," said Kim Steffen. "We usually go in for something, just to brighten their day a little bit."

The gift had several songs the students had performed during their fall concert downloaded on it, as well as "some other random songs" they thought Bo might enjoy.

"We didn't have time to wrap it, so he looked at the box and saw 'iPod' across the front. And, of course, he knows what that means," Taylor said with a smile. "He was very surprised and said that it was too expensive and that we shouldn't have given it to him. He liked it."

The Ukrainian youth, meanwhile, has music from his homeland at the Hunzikers' home that they have since attempted to also download onto the iPod.

"We just want the town to know about Bo and his issues right now, and to keep him in their prayers and concerns," added Steffen. "It's not a typical day in Spencer where we get to meet someone from across the globe and help them out like this."

http://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/story/1290572.html

(Photo by Kris Todd) Bohdan "Bo" Kiyanchuk, second from right, was given an iPod by Spencer High School Concert Choir and Chromatic Jazz students Kim Steffen, Jon Gabhart and Liz Taylor, among others, last week when the Ukrainian youth, who is waiting to undergo a kidney transplant, began dialysis treatments.