25 years ago today, my life changed forever and I was not even born yet!! I know that sound impossible, but when the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the world happened 40 miles from where my entire family lived, life changed for many families like mine. Soon after the disaster my mother became pregnant with little old me!!! My parents had to act fast because this was no place to be pregnant and have a baby. Luckily, my Grandparants were working in western Siberia and we fled to the city of Nyagan, where I was born. Two years later, my parents still did not want to bring me back near the disaster and we moved to Sochi, Russia. I started playing tennis at age 4 and I think everyone knows the story from there.

BUT!!! The story people don't know is what I want to focus on today. How one disaster completely effected one area in the world and how 25 years later it still haunts my people.  But today I want to thank and remember all the great heroes and their families that sacrificed their lives to help people during this disaster. I want to focus on the future and give everyone hope in this region that they can live normal lives, and dream BIG. Please take the time to "click" around my special Chernobyl page on my site if you would like to learn more about Chernobyl and how you can help.

Maria