Rich Frishman Photography
Ghosts of Segregation American Splendor This Land Technique Videos
His heart failing, Sergei Vorosov has slept 12 hours and, as usual, has little appetite.<br/>His mother Marina makes sure he eats some of his hot buckwheat and tea. Despite his pleas, Sergei is held firmly on his Grandmother's lap while<br/>Marina prepares to give him the last of his daily injections.In their cramped Khabarovsk hotel room on their last day together, Marina Vorosov cradle her little 6-year old boy and gently rocks him. She knows<br/>that without the critical surgery which awaits him in America, he will sooon die. But when she lets go of him tonight, she knows she may never see him again. On their last day together, Marina cradles her frail 6-year old boy and gently rocks him. She knows that without the critical surgery which awaits him in America, he will soon die. But when she lets go of him tonight, she knows she may never see him again. Having spent years, and practically every ruple, to get their son to America for heart surgery, Sergei's father<br/>tries to absorb their few remaining moments together. He knows he may never see his son again. Sergei and Marina hold their son one final time in the dark Khabarovsk airport before he leaves for America.<br/>All they have told him is that he is going to America to become healthy. Half way through his all-night flight, Sergei is frightened and feels alone. Hearing his<br/>muffled cries, Tatiana Khokorina woke to comfort the little boy. Sergei stares out at the Anchorage Airport, exhausted after his<br/>7-hour flight from Russia and still facing a long flight to Seattle. Having just cleared US Customs, Sergei rests atop luggage in the Anchorage Airport<br/>as Krista Atkison, a Russian-speaking airport employee, reassures him. Arriving in Seattle, Sergei cries as he holds the hand of his host mother. On his first visit to a McDonald's, Sergei is amazed by this quintessential American experience: the smells, the tastes,<br/>the variety, the abundance, the sparkling stainless steel and the toys. He orders a cheeseburger Happy Meal. Well past midnight, Sergei plays with Legos by the light of his headlamp, alone in his bedroom.<br/>Later he would confide in his translator that he was afraid he would die in his sleep. At the Russian Orthodox Church in Seattle, Sergei lights a prayer candle. His mother is a faithful member of the church<br/>in Sovetskaya Gavan, but Sergei has rarely attended and is ignorant of the rituals. Dr. Imrich Bor, a pediatrician fluent in Russian, explains the serious heart surgery he will face.<br/>Sergei's parents had never told him of the dangers he faced. After learning of the serious heart surgery he will face, Sergei withdraws on his doctor's floor.<br/>Sergei's parents had never told him of the dangers he faced. Foster mother Linda Johnson holds firm as Sergei cringes during a blood test. Translator Olga Strashnova comforts Sergei in his room at Seattle's Providence Hospital. The night before surgery, gun-toting Sergei shoots back in his hospital room. Having been in the US<br/>for 3 months, he is in love with all things "American," from cowboys to video games. Sergei often walked the halls of 8-West dressed in cowboy boots, holster and six-shooters,<br/>amusing everyone he met with his Russian-accented "Stick 'em up!" Alone in his hospital room near midnight before his risky surgery, Sergei<br/>stares out at the streets of Seattle, silent and withdrawn. Dr. Edward Rittenhouse delicately repairs Sergei's deformed heart, carefully choreographing a team of skilled<br/>surgeons, doctors and nurses who have donated their services to save this young life. After hearing that Sergei has survived the 5-hour surgery, Olga quietly prays. Hours after surgery, Olga hovers lovingly over an<br/>unconscious Sergei, murmuring gentle Russian phrases. A piece of paper towel serves as a Russian phrase<br/>book for cardiac intensive care nurse Tim McKibben. Sergei is carefully centered in the crosshairs of the X-ray camera. On this 5th day<br/>after surgery there was concern that he was developing pneumonia. Sergei does battle with RN Cathy Kinnaman, who tries to coax him to take his pain meds A defiant, angry Sergei squares off with his foster mom. He refused<br/>to take his pain meds and wanted to escape his hospital room. Sergei scans an assortment of get-well drawings sent to him<br/>from children in Mrs. Dinkles's class at Machias School. After 8 days in the hospital, Sergei is wheeled out of Providence Medical Center<br/>to return to his foster home in Lake Stevens. Sergei loved to ride his trike through the Johnson's suburban neighborhood.<br/>It was the first time in his life he could play without turning blue. Sergei pauses during a kite-flying outing to Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park, staring westward over Puget Sound,<br/>his gaze fixed on a point somewhere beyond infinity. Sergei arrived in America with one pair of boots, 1 pair of slippers, 1 pair of pj's, 2 pants and shirts and some<br/>tattered underwear. His new toys alone will not fit into the bag that previously carried all his possessions. Sergei had remained laughing as he boarded the aircraft that would take him home to Russia, only to run back up<br/>the jetway to sob his final farewell in Linda's embrace. "Me stay, please, Lindy," he implored. "My home with you."
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