Alexander (Sasha) Chedzhemov

Sasha Chedzhemov, 11 is half orphan. His father died when Sasha was 3 month old. Sasha’s mother Janna is on long-term disability and cannot work.

To read more about Sasha's story, please go to dedicated page of our site.

Alena and Svetlana - Mother and Daughter

Alena was taken hostage with her little 2-year old brother, Georgy, and their grandmother. Their house was just next door to the school. When the siege began, Alena’s father, Vadim, heard the gunshots and ran to the school. Terrorist snipers killed him on his front porch. Alena remembers everything: how her little brother was crying and asking for milk, how the roof beams fell on his head and how her grandmother was trying to get him out. Georgy died from the wounds to his head and spine. Her grandmother died a month later – she was not able to survive the deaths of her son and grandson. Alena was treated in a Moscow hospital. She still has shrapnel pieces inside her abdomen. Doctors don’t want to touch them as they are too deep.

Alena does not allow her mother Svetlana to cry. She believes that her father, brother and grandmother are still with them, just invisible. This was the last lesson she learned from her grandmother.

Azamat - Miracle Baby. NEW! Read sponsor testimonial about Azamat here

At 20 months of age, Azamat was not only one of the youngest hostages, he also became a medical miracle. Azamat’s nanny took him to school, along with her granddaughter. A terrorist grabbed Azamat from the nanny’s hands and kept him next to himself, probably as a potential human shield.

When Azamat was rescued from the burning school, his abdomen was slit open by shrapnel which penetrated his body. A talented surgeon, Suleyman Yandiev, performed the first operation on Azamat in the field hospital. Many surgeries later, the doctors are still surprised by Azamat’s strength and vitality. Azamat is better now, but he still screams at night: “I am scared, I am in pain”. He sleeps well only if someone is holding his hand.

When Azamat grows up, he will read all the letters he received from schoolchildren from all over Russia and the world. Many of them wrote: “Azamat, please don’t die. You are our brother too”