ORYOL, Russia -- Tatiana and Konstantine Bakhtina once went to bed praying their daughter Ksyusha would be alive in the morning. Now, they wake up and pray for the Quad-Citians who helped saved their daughter's life.

Tatiana and Konstantine Bakhtina hold daughter Ksyusha after having dinner with Quad-Cities volunteers from ChildLife International in Oryol, Russia. Ksyusha is the first child ChildLife brought to the United States for lifesaving surgery. She will return in June for another operation.

``She had her operation and now you see the result,'' Mrs. Bakhtina said through a translator as Ksyusha ran between her mother's legs to grab her father's hand. ``She is alive and healthy enough to run, play, smile and live.''

Ksyusha first came to the Quad-Cities in November 1997 when she was 2 years old. She was the first Russian child ChildLife International helped bring to the United States for life-saving surgery. She is scheduled to return in June for a second operation at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

The upcoming surgery is more intensive and dangerous, but the Bakhtinas say they can handle it. They fought too hard to give Ksyusha the chance for the surgery.

Ksyusha was born with a serious heart defect. She had surgery in a Moscow children's hospital when she was 3 months old. However, doctors there said further operations were beyond their expertise. They could do no more for the bright, beautiful little girl.

The Bakhtinas returned home to Oryol heartsick but determined to try to save their daughter. Mrs. Bakhtina contacted every company and charity she could think of, but nothing happened.

Mrs. Bakhtina tried to describe that struggle to Quad-Cities volunteers who visited Oryol in February, but as she spoke, her voice became rough and tears slipped out of her large brown eyes.

ChildLife founder Connie Siefken heard about Ksyusha's condition and gave her medical records to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. Doctors there believed they could save her if Mrs. Siefken could arrange to bring her over. She did.

When Ksyusha arrived at Cardinal Glennon, she had a hole in a heart valve, and the veins that carry oxygen-rich blood back to her heart were not growing properly, making breathing difficult.

Pediatric cardiologists operated on Ksyusha for five hours, repairing the defective veins. The Bakhtinas spent a month at the Ronald McDonald House while Ksyusha recuperated.

The June surgery will repair the hole in her heart valve.

The Bakhtinas were so grateful to their American friends, they named their next baby Andrei after Dr. Andrew Fiori, one of Ksyusha's surgeons. They asked Mrs. Siefken to be the boy's godmother, and the ceremony was held during ChildLife's visit to Oryol in February.

At a dinner during that visit, Mrs. Bakhtina struggled to explain what ChildLife means to her family.

``It is life, it is love, it is kindness,'' she said, tears welling up again. ``We don't think we would be able to live without meeting this organization. Connie and all her friends are close relatives of our family.''