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Friday, August 5, 2022
Vol. 10, No. 31
BEST OF NASSAU COUNTY
DOG KILLS WOMAN IN ALBERTSON
LAFAZAN MAKES CASE FOR CD3 NOMINATION
PAGES S1-S52
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Lviv to L.I.: Ukrainian girl gets gift of life Polina, 9, receives heart surgery in Roslyn BY ST E V E N K E E H N E R
PHOTO BY STEVEN KEEHNER
The Shchepaniak family in front of Plandome Country Club. Polina Shchepaniak, 9, from Ukraine, underwent life-saving heart surgery recently.
Eight-year-old Polina Shchepaniak was preparing for a heart operation in March to correct a congenital condition diagnosed during her first few weeks of life. Then came Russia’s invasion of her homeland in Ukraine. “All eight years were in fear that Polina has been sick,” said Kateryna Shchepaniak, Polina’s mother. “It’s hard. It can be like high temperatures, like stomach flu. Since she was little, it can be hard. Every time she was sick, we must give her antibiotics because of the heart. It was scary for us.”
Fortunately for Polina, now 9, the Gift-of-Life, led by two Manhasset Rotary members, stepped in. The Gift of Life arranged for Polina and her family to come to the United States and have surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn where the organization started in 1975. Since then, they have performed surgery on over 43,000 kids from 80 different countries thanks to its extensive global network. They also give equipment and training in countries that lack it so that local doctors can carry out the procedures on their own. Polina was born with an atrial Continued on Page 39
Fencing prodigy lunges for greatness BY ST E V E N K E E H N E R If you asked Jayden Hooshi back when he was 8 years old what drew him to fencing, he would have said it reminded him of “Star Wars.” Now 14, his excellent fencing abilities have not yet brought him to a galaxy far, far away. On this planet, however, he’s still one to watch. A rising freshman at Jericho High School, the Old Westbury resident re-
cently won a silver medal in the USA Fencing Summer Nationals Championships. He will soon be a member of the national cadet team for USA Fencing. In the upcoming months, he will compete in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy. Gidon Retzkin, founder/head coach of the East Coast Fencing Club in Roslyn and a former member of the Israeli National Team, said Jayden’s
“fighting spirit” is second to none. “That’s something that is very hard to teach. It’s almost impossible,” he said. “The technical part is much easier, but having the will and wanting to win is almost impossible to teach. But he has it, which makes my life a lot easier.” When Jayden was 8, he first observed his brother Dylan, another talented fencer, practicing. This led to him picking up the sport, too. Al-
though humble, he said that he and his parents soon recognized his talents. “When I was around 8 years old, my parents brought me to many competitions and I was racking up all the gold medals,” he said. “My national ranking was coming out, and I was entering bigger events.” Retzkin said that even at that young age, Jayden’s skills were obvious.
“Right from the beginning, he was extremely talented,” he said. “Very, very passionate. He was not afraid of anyone.” The three disciplines of modern fencing are foil, épée and sabre. One earns winning points when the weapon contacts an opponent. Besides employing a separate weapon, each form has its own set of rules. Most competitive fencers opt to Continued on Page 39
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