Doctors fight for 3-month old blast survivor as Volgograd holds funerals

The residents of Russia’s Volgograd Friday buried 6 more victims of the twin blasts that killed 34 and injured over 100. Doctors are still fighting for the lives of others, including 3-month-old Vika, who was severely injured in one of the attacks

The infant Vika Tolkunova is in an induced coma in intensive care, clinging to her life. Doctors say her condition is critical, but stable.

“The baby girl remains in a coma. We’ve put her on a ventilator in intensive care. She has also sustained light, but serious brain damage. Her condition is very serious, but we’ve got it under control,” head of Children’s Clinical Hospital in Moscow Nikolay Vaganov told RT.

A Volgograd regional charity has organized a donation center for the victims of the twin terrorist attacks. Click here for details of how to make a donation in foreign currency.

On Monday Vika caught a fever and was en route to the hospital with her mother and grandmother, when a powerful explosion rocked their trolleybus.

Vika’s mother and grandmother died, while the infant survived thanks to the thick blanket that she was wrapped in. It saved her from life-threatening burns. Her family and friends are torn between hope for her miraculous recovery and grief for their dead.

“I’m very grateful to everyone who took part in the rescue of my girl, to Volgograd hospital doctors, they’ve performed a miracle, returned my daughter from the dead. I’ll do anything for her, she’s the meaning of my life,” Vika’s father Vasily Ivanovich told RT.

The hospitals of Volgograd and Moscow are still treating 65 victims of the twin terror attacks, said deputy governor of the city district Vasily Galushkin on Friday. The first blast rocked the city’s railway station on December 29, killing 18 people, while the second blast hit a trolleybus on December 30 killing 16.

Volgograd is still in mourning as residents bring candles and flowers to the sites of the blasts. Many decorated their Christmas trees only for the sake of their children.

"I’ve planned to go with my granddaughter to the puppet theater on December 30, but the show was moved to January 4 because of the attacks and days of mourning," said Volgograd resident Vladimir Buturlin as quoted by Itar-Tass. "We’ll go tomorrow, my granddaughter is waiting, life goes on no matter what. As they say, we must remember those who are gone, but live for the ones who are with us."