One of the most uplifting and at times extremely emotional programs I have ever seen on “60 Minutes” on CBS News was about a multinational effort to save 1,119 Ukrainian children suffering from cancer. 

“Half the people of Ukraine are without power as low temperatures drop into the 20s,” said correspondent Scott Pelley. “Russia is attacking civilian utilities with new waves of missiles in relentless assaults that the United Nations calls war crimes.” 

Pelley said even before Russia’s invasion last February, “more than a thousand Ukrainian children were already at war — they were fighting cancer.” He said 630 Russian attacks on hospitals and clinics put the fragile children in immediate danger. 

“The joy in 2-year-old Melania defied both cancer and war,” Pelley said. “But if she was to live, her family had to escape Ukraine.” Melania’s mother joined the thousands of refugees struggling to cross into Poland. 

Melania’s mother said they walked miles to the border and left their cars and belongings behind. They would only take with them their most precious ones — their children and pets. “My heart was tearing apart,” she said. 

Dr. Lesia Lysytsia at a children’s hospital in the capital city of Kyiv told Pelley that as missiles flew, she rushed patients to the basement — many of them on chemotherapy. 

The doctor said you can’t delay an operation for an oncology patient for a week or two. Their treatment can’t be stopped because timing is critical. A delay of two weeks, she said, and “you’ve lost some percentage of their chance to survive.” 

Pelley said Olena Zelenskyy, the first lady of Ukraine, was aware of the desperate children. Kids with cancer were among the first to find her empathy, he said. She worked with other countries to arrange for the evacuation of the children with cancer. 

“On my level, I can speak with the first ladies,” Zelenskyy said. “For the convoy to work, they needed to set up the system in their countries, making sure that physicians and hospitals in their country would accept the children for treatment.” 

Pelley said, “The first lady of Ukraine asked the world for help and a renowned American hospital and 21 countries answered the call. What followed was an improvised flight to safety that Ukraine called the convoy of life.” 

Jill Biden, President Biden’s wife, responded for the United States, Brigitte Macron for France, Agata Kornhauser-Duda for Poland, and many others. 

The journey was exhausting for many patients who didn’t know where they were going and hoped the medical personnel and hospitals would be there waiting for them. 

Pelley said, “The answer turned out to be this improvised triage center in Poland set up by an American hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. — named for the patron saint of hopeless causes. 

Dr. Marta Salek of St. Jude helped organize the triage center in an empty hotel in the Polish countryside. The “Unicorn Clinic” was the name they gave the hotel. Medical records were translated and other hospitals were found for treatment, at no charge, in 21 welcoming countries. 

Melania, the 2-year-old mentioned earlier, was treated and her mother told Pelley there’s hope she can be cured of the cancer of the connective tissue in her leg. 

“We fled the war,” her mother said, “from people who just wanted to kill and (here) people are greeting you and want to give you the best help. They did so much for us and are still doing. This is something incredible.” 

Zhasmin Alkadi, a 17-year-old, had bone cancer in her leg. She had more rounds of chemotherapy left but had to have her leg amputated. “I just need to finish my chemotherapy and I can then continue living my life, as before,” she said. 

The mass evacuation of children with cancer ran, last spring, from March through May. Dr. Salek told  Pelley a few children didn’t survive the journey. However,  she said she thinks those children would have died if they had stayed in Ukraine and they died peacefully in a safe environment. 

The mother of the 2-year-old said, “Wherever I go, I want to say thank you to every person that I meet. I feel like I want to scream out loud to everyone: ‘Thank you! America gave this to us. And I would like to have a (chance) to help others too, so that people believe that kindness wins …” 

What a blessing it was to tearfully watch this story during the Christmas season as I remembered Jesus saying “the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.”