Russian doctors fly to Turkey to bring home new-born baby
Russian doctors are preparing to fly to Turkey to provide medical assistance to a new-born baby who needs to be transported to Russia. A special plane with an incubator is being prepared for the baby, who was born two months prematurely.
The boy, Sergey, has now been re-united with his family and given all the necessary paperwork to be able to return to Russia.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry plane carrying the doctors, including Leonid Roshal, one of Russia’s most famous paediatricians, is scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Tuesday.
Yulia Korsakova gave birth prematurely while on holiday with her husband at the Turkish resort of Antalya, but they were unable to pay medical costs and had to leave the child in hospital. Yulia’s son has been kept in an incubator at the Anadolu Hospital in Turkey’s Antalya since he was born. He began to breathe on his own only a day ago and the hospital’s doctors are very happy with his progress.
“At the moment the baby is feeling better and gaining weight. He should be able to fly back in an incubator,” one of Anadolu Hospital doctors commented.
They hope Sergey will recover faster now his mother is by his side.
Now the Russian medics also need to approve that the child is ready for the three-hour trip from Turkey to Russia.
Against doctors’ advice Yulia went on holiday when she was seven months pregnant, and gave birth prematurely in a Turkish hospital.
“When they took me to hospital in Kemer, I was under the risk of a premature birth. I started having labour pains after they gave me anesthetic. Then they preformed a Caesarean operation without even asking me. I was left in hospital and my baby was taken to another clinic. I didn’t need the operation. They were wrong,” Yulia believes.
After the baby was born, he needed special and expensive treatment. But the couple had no money to pay a $US 1,500-a-day hospital bill. They came back to Russia and turned to Russia’s consulate for assistance. After a round of negotiations, their insurance company and travel agency agreed to cover the expenses.
“Our tour company is going to cover all hospital and hotel expenses. We always try to help our tourists. If they're in trouble abroad, we're not concerned about the financial issues,” said Selime Gorgun, travel agency manager.
On Monady, Yulia went through a lot of paperwork in the consulate to get ready for a team of doctors from Russia's Emergency Ministry to arrive with special equipment necessary to transport the baby from Antalya to Moscow. Her son, Sergey, has received his first-ever document – his birth certificate. Information about Sergey was also added to his mother’s passport, so now he has the all the papers needed for the flight. As soon as the Turkish hospital doctors allow the new-born to travel, Yulia will return with her son.
The incident drew a wide response both in Russia and in Turkey. Back home in Russia baby Sergey has been called “a Turkish hostage”. In Turkey, local media has nicknamed him “an unexpected guest”. But with the bills covered, Russia’s consulate ready to speed up with the paperwork and an emergency plane ready to carry the new-born home, the story seems to have a happy ending.
