Natalia Nekhrasova sits in her living room. She had a brain tumour and was operated on when she was eight. The operation was successful but she suffers from severe headaches and is partly invalid. Despite her disease she was able to finish her studies. After she finished school, the government didn’t pay her monthly medical allowance anymore, claiming that she now is able to provide herself with an income. However, because of her illness nobody would give her a job. Therefore she is forced to live with her mother and stay in Bashakul. Her mother Ludmilla blames the illness on the Techa River where she often swam when she was young.