BOSTON -- It was 20 years ago that the Chernobyl nuclear reactor spewed radiation across Europe.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported Wednesday that many of the victims of the disaster weren't even born then, but that hasn't spared a new generation. Many have come to Boston to seek help and hope.

Sergey Furs, 16, is a child of Chernobyl who got the bad news Wednesday morning. After four years of being in remission, his cancer is back and has spread.

"He, himself, is such a great kid, that as long as he knew that we cared about him, the project cared about him, we were there to help him, that he was surrounded by enough caring that he really didn't have to think that all was lost at that point in time," Tufts New England Medical Center's Dr. Lawrence Wolfe said.

Twenty years after the world's worst nuclear disaster, its youngest victims continue to receive largely donated care from the Floating Hospital at New England Medical Center.

In a related program, more than 1,200 children have been brought to the Boston area through the Chernobyl Children Project. It gives them a chance to spend a month in an improved environment. It's Sergey's fourth year with his host family, which is also trying to deal with the bad news.

"What parent wouldn't be upset? Not unexpected. But again, I have tremendous faith in the folks here at New England Medical Center and really want the best for Sergey, like any other parent would," said Clem Cole, one of Sergey's hosts.

Those familiar with the Chernobyl tragedy said that it is a reality the people there face every day.

"For many people here in the United States, Chernobyl is but a distant memory. But the disaster is never far from the minds of people who live in the contaminated regions of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine," Chernobyl Children Project's Dr. John Kulig said.

Although the Floating Hospital donates much of its services to the Chernobyl Children Project, the project does not have the money for the surgery Sergey now needs.

If an appeal for donations is not successful, the teenager may have to settle for treatment in his native Belarus.