The Power of Belarusians. In a few days, people collected 500 thousand dollars for three-year-old Ksyusha
For the past week, the story of three-year-old Ksyusha has been actively spreading on social media. The girl has a rare genetic disease — spinal muscular atrophy type 2. A single injection can permanently stop the progression of the disease, which gradually takes away all her skills.
But everything hinges on its cost — almost $2 million. Previously, parents launched such fundraisers, but the girl's story turned out to be more complicated: Ksyusha has been in a Children's Home for over a year.
Over the past few days, dozens of readers wrote to the editorial office of Onliner — all of them shared the girl's story. On March 4, a video with Ksyusha appeared on the Instagram account run by volunteers. The caption indicates that she is a resident of the Mogilev Children's Home, "her dad is no longer alive, and her mom couldn't take care of her."
Journalists contacted Lyudmila, a volunteer who actively helps the girl. According to the woman, Ksyusha was diagnosed two years ago, and she has been in the Children's Home since January 2025.
Upon learning about the girl's story, the volunteer contacted Ksyusha's mother, and together they even visited the child in the hospital. The reason for hospitalization, Lyudmila explains, was pneumonia — the girl has been undergoing treatment since March 4.
At the time of meeting Ksyusha, Lyudmila already had experience participating in other fundraisers for children with SMA and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (in this case, it's about a drug costing $2.9 million; in Belarus, two boys — Artsyom Pad'yalouski and Vanya Stsiatsenka — managed to close fundraisers for "Elevidys").
After contacting other volunteers, it was decided to open a fundraiser for Ksyusha's treatment. Before this, the interviewee emphasizes, volunteers studied all documents (copies of which are with the girl's mother), contacted the Children's Home, and representatives of guardianship authorities.
The story quickly gained momentum — posts about Ksyusha are actively reposted on all social networks, with bloggers and public pages getting involved. Thanks to the publicity and the work of volunteers, about $650,000 had been collected at the time of publication.
— We expected a response, but we didn't think it would be so great. The fact that Ksyusha doesn't have her mom nearby played a role — she only exists on paper.
The amount already collected looks impressive, but in reality, it's just over 36% of the invoice — $1.8 million. There isn't much time left: in Belarus, the drug "Zolgensma" is administered to children weighing up to 13.5 kilograms. In Dubai, they are ready to administer the drug if the child weighs up to 21 kilograms, but the question arises of who will accompany the girl.
— Ksyusha doesn't walk or crawl, but her legs move. If only they had noticed earlier... The girl is very clever — you can see that she thinks before answering a question. She also loves to hug, and those eyes! We sleep two hours a day — we are doing everything possible so that Ksyusha receives the injection in Belarus.
Information on how to help Ksyusha can be found here
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