Chernobyl Pilot Gets Transplant
A Soviet pilot who got radiation poisoning from his efforts to stem the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was described as happy and relieved Saturday, as the wait began to see if new bone marrow will save his life.
Anatoly Grishchenko, 53, who suffers from a pre-leukemia condition, has been honored in the Soviet Union for his work to put a cement cap on the reactor in the Ukraine. He made five flights over Chernobyl soon after the April 26, 1986, explosion and fire.
Grishchenko received the marrow during an eight-hour procedure completed early Saturday, said Susan Edmonds, spokeswoman for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
“He is stable. He handled the transfusion very well and there are no problems,” she said. “The next step is to see if the marrow will grow.”
Grishchenko will remain in a sterile hospital room for 35 to 40 days as the new marrow slowly re-establishes his immune system, Edmonds said. Doctors should know in about three weeks whether the transplant was a success.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
