Thanks to the Westbury and Carle Place Rotary Club, four-year-old Natalia Agarkova of Russia will now be able to perform normal everyday activities like riding a bike, running and laughing without worrying about straining her heart. Through the club's Gift of Life Program, Natalia recently underwent major heart surgery to repair a half-dollar sized hole in her heart.

In January, Natalia and her mother, Irina, embarked on a journey from a small Russian town 300 miles from Moscow to the United States. Members of the club met them at John F. Kennedy International Airport and took them over to St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn. At this time, Natalia was admitted and her mother moved into the hospital's Hospitality Suite.

In late February, surgeons successfully repaired a hole which was located between the two upper chambers of Natalia's heart.

Sean Levchuck, a pediatric cardiologist at St. Francis in charge of handling heart surgery applications for the Gift of Life, said that without the surgery, the child's condition would have progressively gotten worse. "She would have continued to tire easily and catch various respiratory infections," said Levchuck. "Within the next 10 years, had the surgery not been done, [Natalia] would have gotten a series of respiratory illnesses and died."

The concept for the Gift of Life Program began in 1974 when the Manhasset-based Rotary Club responded to a request for help from the Kampala Rotary Club in Uganda. The club brought five-year-old Grace Agwaru on a 5,000 mile journey from Uganda to Roslyn where, on Nov. 5, she underwent a four-hour open-heart surgical procedure to close a hole between the lower chambers of her heart.

What began as a simple response to help one child developed into a worldwide movement involving thousands of Rotarians and their families, as well as people from other community-based service and fraternal organizations. By 1975, a worldwide Rotary International Service Program was established with the primary objective of providing the "Gift of Life" to the more than 1,900 children from over 30 countries who have followed Grace Agwaru since 1974.

The program's primary purpose is to help those needy children who require corrective heart surgery secure another lease on life through the miracle of open-heart surgery in Gift of Life participating hospitals in the United States.

Patients like Natalia are accepted for corrective heart surgery based on financial need and medical history, including recent chest X-rays, EKGs and echo cardiogram tape and catherization reports. A team of pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from participating hospitals review the medical information, and following the studies, a notification along with the recommendations of the reviewing physicians is sent to the club.

"The Rotary brings a medical chart to me for consideration," said. Levchuck. "A lot of things need to be taken into consideration, especially if the condition is fixable here and can be monitored once the child returns home." Levchuck said that once the child arrives at the hospital, a series of tests are performed prior to surgery to make sure the diagnosis made in the child's home country is accurate.

The cost of the hospital stay and surgery are provided to the patient free of charge. While the cost of the surgery and hospital stay, which is estimated between $30,000 and $50,000, is waived by the participating hospital, it is the responsibility of the sponsoring Rotary Club to provide round-trip air and ground transportation for the child and one parent or guardian, expense money for necessities to the adult accompanying the child and to see that the child and parent have enough clothing for the duration of their stay.

Rotarian Luigi D'Onofrio, who headed this particular Gift of Life sponsorship, said the program is about more than just repairing physical defects. "The program shows those who are not familiar with the people here how we are," said D'Onofrio. "Hopefully they will go back to their country and tell others about their experience and our goodwill. They will promote how we live, how we think and how caring we are, not just for ourselves, but for others. [Irina] said she will always talk with her daughter about their experience in the United States."

D'Onofrio, who established a personal friendship with the Agarkovas and had them over for a home-cooked Italian dinner, said that even though the Agarkovas did not know any English, it did not stop them from being able to communicate. When they weren't accompanied by an interpreter, Irina Agarkova came prepared with a Russian/English dictionary. "When they were leaving, [Irina] pointed to a section in the [dictionary] and said 'I do not have the words to express appreciation for what the Gift of Life has done for my child and me,'" D'Onofrio said. "She said we changed their lives."

Levchuck said St. Francis works with various Rotary clubs in Queens and Nassau County, performing an estimated 15 surgeries a year. "This is the most rewarding part of the job," said Levchuck. "You know you've impacted on the life of another human being. It's a great team effort between the hospital, the physicians and the Rotary."

D'Onofrio agreed, saying, "The Gift of Life program is one of the best things that the Rotary started. A child is brought to the United States, operated on and given a change to live a normal life."