Two parents need $230,000. That’s how much it will cost to keep their baby alive.
It’s $5,158 a day to pay for the care their son is getting in the Royal Women’s Hospital.
It’s $5,158 a day that his parents – who were only in Australia for a holiday – simply don’t have and that their insurance is never going to cover.
They need $230,000 before they can safely take him home.
Marko was born at 28 weeks. Via GoFundMe.
Travelling musicians Volodymyr Muliar, 38, and Yaryna Kvitka, 30, had never planned on this to happen. When they set out from Kyiv in October 2014, the plan was to cycle 25,000km through 13 countries.
What they hadn’t planned on was falling pregnant along the way.
Travelling musicians Volodymyr Muliar, 38, and Yaryna Kvitka, 30, on their trip. Via Facebook.
But when fate intervened they decided they would have their baby in Argentina as they could not afford the related medical costs in Australia, as they were only on tourist visas.
But on April 8th - when Yaryna was only 28 weeks pregnant - she went into labour.
Yaryna told Mamamia that they couldn't stop him: "We didn't plan to have [sic] baby here. Marko decided to see this world early. We could not stop him."
Baby Marko was born by caesarean section, fragile and clinging to life at just 1.1kg.
"He was so tiny," Yaryna said. "So small."
The couple say they need help. Via YouTube.
Aside from the shock of having their baby so early, they were then confronted with another shock - the cost.
They write on a fundraiser page:
“It is probably unnecessary to describe the state of Ukrainian economy at the moment. But even there we are not wealthy people – our weekly salary in Kyiv was about $60 (US). Having a great passion for music and travelling, cycling and camping was a great compromise for us to do what we love the most. What makes the situation even worse our visa to Australia does not give us the right to work whatsoever."