Irina Khakamada with her daughter Masha.
Photo: Larisa KUDRYAVTSEVA/EG
Irina Khakamada spoke about one of the most tragic events of her life: her daughter’s fight against cancer. In a conversation with Svetlana Bondarchuk for her YouTube show Sveta Around the World, the businesswoman recalled how she and her husband found out that her son had leukemia.
Their daughter Masha Irina gave birth in 1997 to businessman Vladimir Sirotinsky. Even during the pregnancy, Khakamada found out that her unborn child had Down syndrome, but she decided to give birth anyway.
Irina was worried that a special girl would find it difficult to adjust to society. But over time she realized that Masha is a cheerful and very sociable girl. Khakamada decided not to hide her daughter from her, but, on the contrary, to take her to social events.
“I realized that Masha loves the stage, she dances well, acts in the theater. She extremely sociable, well-spoken, beautiful. What is there to hide? Let the girl go crazy ”, recalls the ex-politician.
Problems arose in 2004 when Khakamada decided to run for president of Russia. During the electoral race, she and her husband found out that Masha had cancer. Despite a serious diagnosis, Khakamada did not want to abandon her political career. Her husband supported her and decided that without her self-realization, Irina would not be able to live a normal life.
“The husband said:” If you do not do what you like, then there will be no crazy energy, we will not take it out. Better go to the presidential campaign, we will help you”, says Irina.
The fight against cancer lasted several years. According to Khakamada, during this period his daughter changed beyond recognition. However, the girl did not lose her fighting spirit.
“Masha, by the way, was absolutely great. We discharged her, they treated her for another two years, she had to take hormonal pills, she became bald, she gained weight, she looked like a Buddhist monk, ”says Irina, specifying that her daughter developed a brutal appetite due to hormonal drugs. .
After returning from the hospital, the family learned that the treatment had been extended again.
“I sighed:“ Mash, well, when will all this end? She chews, she has a great appetite for all this and says: “Don’t worry. Soon. Go and rest,” Irina said proudly.
Fortunately, Masha was diagnosed with cancer at an early stage. A few years later, the girl managed to defeat leukemia.
Earlier, Khakamada said that after her husband’s death, she was left with huge debts. The businessman, managing partner of the online language learning service Lingualeo, has died at the age of 65 due to a heart attack. According to Irina, she found out the true amount of her deceased husband’s debts only after her death.
– The debts are huge. More than all my money – said Irina.
Her husband borrowed abroad and now the foreign currency debts are even higher. However, the current geopolitical situation and the Western sanctions imposed on Russia only favor Khakamada: now creditors cannot reach her.
– You know, now everything is so bad that the fact that this crap overlaps with this makes everything the same. The time will come, but everything is solved. Foreign debts, in foreign banks, we have sanctions, you can’t fly there, and banks can’t do anything! Everything is forbidden for me and this is good for me, Khakamada believes.
