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Struggling to see and foaming at the mouth, hero helicopter pilot Andrei Mizko finally sought medical help.

It was 11 years after he was one of the courageous pilots who flew over Chernobyl's still fiercely burning reactor following the devastating explosion that became the worst nuclear accident in history.

Just 26 when reactor number 4 erupted and spewed deadly radiation across much of Europe Colonel Mizko was one of the men tasked with trying to quell the inferno,

He had to drop tonnes of lead onto the still burning reactorand one just one of the crew members and support staff called from across the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the disaster.

It was just 10 days after the reactor had exploded and he would return 11 times over the next 22 days.

(Image: Sygma via Getty Images)

A fabric dust mask was his only protection against a potentially lethal dose of radiation.

Heartbreakingly, ground crew lined his seat with lead to try to limit his exposure to the radiation - it was in vain.

His role and the work of everyone involved in calming the smouldering core of the reactor has been immortalised in the HBO drama, Chernobyl.

But their bravery didn't come without a price - thousands of those involved in the aftermath have died.

Tens of thousands more have serious disabilities or illnesses and Colonel Mizko is among them.

(Image: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

He receives just £13 a month, despite now being unable to work, and has to constantly prove his disability.

The now 59-year-old had to be grounded from duty nine years later after his symptoms became so severe he could no longer fly.

He said: "The alarm bells first rang for me in 1991. I experienced issues with my blood vessels but could not admit to this because it would have led to an automatic grounding."

Two years after he was grounded he vision was blurred and he was worried.

Medics told him his condition was normally only experienced by people in their 70s.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

And this was only the beginning.

Colonel Mizko said: "It progressed into fits that caused me to foam at the mouth and I have serious problems with my heart."

But what made him, and tens of thousands of others, agree to go into the heart of hell?

He said: "I wasn't focused on the dangers.

"We believed we were a valuable asset, part of the Soviet elite, certain questions do not have an answer."

Colonel Mizko will never forget the sight that greeted him the first time he flew over the ruined reactor.

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He said: "It was a clear day and we were flying above a city that had been evacuated, a city with 50,000 adults and 17,000 children, yet everyone had gone.

"Its life had been totally sucked out and it was in a frozen state, as if a pause button had been pushed."

One of his clearest memories is of a yellow Lada with its door open as if those inside had just fled.

Pets were running around the streets of Prypiat and washing still hung on washing lines.

Colonel Mizko said: "Our mechanics had to bodge protective gear by hunting for anything they could line our seats with.

"We were lucky to find anything at all. We had to fend for ourselves, we were disposable. But I was a military pilot and I was given a task.

(Image: UKTV)

"It was my job to follow orders and my whole mind was concentrated on fulfilling that task. We never questioned the need to do the drops.

"Throughout that time, the most emotional part and the biggest reward was when we would pass over the reactor and the commander-in-chief, who was co-ordinating the flights from a hotel roof, would declare, 'Well done boys, good hit'."

In the years following the disaster, the ruined reactor was covered with a huge, steel-enforced, concrete sarcophagus.

But even 33 years after the devastating explosion a 38-mile exclusion zone still surrounds the nuclear plant.

The divorced father is still fighting even though he has now been grounded - this time for his medical subsidy, which is just £13 a month.

Colonel Mizko and pilots like him were not the only ones drafted in to stop the leaking radiation from destroying half of the globe.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

More than 200,000 people worked as "liquidators" in Ukraine alone.

These were the human bio-robots who cleared the site and created the sarcophagus over the reactor.

Of these 85,000 are severely disabled and 5,000 have died.

More than half of the support staff who loaded the helicopters on the ground have also died.

As part of the official Soviet cover-up of the disaster, hospitals were ordered not to allow future tracking of medical consequences.

Colonel Mizko says: "Records were classified, and health issues recorded against other causes."

This has made it difficult for historians to measure the human impact but Colonel Mizko recently came across a Russian website created by members of the Chernobyl helicopter crews.

He said: "If a person passes away the forum marks their picture with a black bezel.

"The head of our unit is in black and I have seen many members of my flying unit, younger than me, already in black.

"The feelings are impossible to convey. You have an ID to say you are a liquidator, yet the attitude is 'close the door behind you'."

However, despite the nightmare that has become his life, Colonel Mizko still believes he had no choice but to take part in the mission.

He said: "There was no one else to do this job.

"We were carrying out this mission for the world and, regardless of our health issues, we do not regret our involvement.

"Future generations must remain aware of the invaluable lessons that have been learned at Chernobyl."

Jane Warren is the author of Igor: The Courage Of Chernobyl's Child, which is available for £9.99, including P&P, through Chernobyl Children's Lifeline. All proceeds go towards the work of the charity. To donate to the charity or order a copy of the book, go to www.ccll.org.ukor call 01420 511700.