NATION : Chernobyl Hero Near Death
The Soviet helicopter pilot hailed as a hero for trying to douse the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor was near death today after a lung infection worsened during leukemia treatments.
Anatoly Grishchenko, 53, was listed in critical condition at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with a high fever and a lung infection. He has been on a respirator since early Friday.
Grishchenko showed no signs of improvement and doctors said his chances of surviving the infection were poor, center spokeswoman Susan Edmonds said.
Grishchenko was stricken by the infection last week, after undergoing a bone-marrow transplant to fight leukemia linked to radiation exposure.
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