ON DECEMBER 11, 1993 light faded for Ilona Minina.
One can long tell the details of that tragic evening, when her apartment was broken into and she was shot at in her head, and everything preceding and following this. The fact is: since that faraway day 9 years have passed, during which Ilona hasn't been able to see the sun shining and grass growing…
Since then she has endured 6 operations, a lot of procedures, injections, and has spent many days in
hospital. Doctors have been fighting for her all the time: in the first hours after the tragedy for her life, and long years thereafter for her eyes,
namely for what has remained of them. 7 years have passed since the last operation on December 18, 1996 in the Russian Center for Plastic Surgery in the
city of Ufa, under guidance of professor Ernst Mouldashev, and when she underwent an examination there on June 21, 2001 she was informed that the miracle
is possible, and her eyesight can at least partially be restored. There has to be another series of complicated, experimental, and of course expensive
operations. Only during the operations will doctors determine whether retina or the entire eye is to be transplanted.
The young woman vitally needs money
for these operations. Ilona is an invalid in relation to her eyes only, she can work, even in this situation she tries not to be a burden and does all
housekeeping works by herself, she knits and grows flowers. She is an optimist in her nature and she isn't crying and complaining of her cruel fate. She
believes that there are people who won't be able to pass by her sorrow, who will help and support her, like it happened in 1996. Ilona still recalls those
people helping with her kind word, because thanks to them the operation in the city of Ufa was carried out. The people assisted, so to say, as much as each
of them could, and this allowed to restore functioning of Ilona's eyeballs.