NewsWhore
08-20-2010, 05:00 PM
A story in the Press Telegram of Los Angeles, California tells how medics working at a Dominican hospital were able to successfully tackle what US medics wouldn't touch because it was too risky. Peter Chhun, founder of Hearts without Boundaries, a non-profit organization that brings destitute children from Cambodia for heart surgery in the US told of the recent case of three-year-old Socheat Nha. Doctors in the US had decided that her condition was too risky for them to handle. As reported, all seemed lost until the International Children's Hearts Foundation, another non-profit organization specializing in helping sick children from Third World countries agreed to operate on Socheat's heart in the DR.
Socheat was diagnosed with heart defects that required closing a hole, called a ventricular septal defect, and repair of the pulmonary artery between the heart and lungs. The procedure would cost US$5,000 for the hospital stay.
The girls' father Phin Ken was surprised when he landed in Santiago, observing that he was from a Third World country, and wondering why was he coming to another Third World country for the operation. Once in the DR, nevertheless, he realized he had come too far to turn back.
"Luckily, despite the surroundings and the travelers' misgivings, the treatment was first rate," according to the Los Angeles news report.
Dr William Novick, medical director of International Children's Hearts Foundation, confirmed that the child was operated on at the Arturo Grullon Children's Hospital, a public pediatric hospital in Santiago. He said that their teams routinely operate on between 18-23 children during a two-week mission. They plan to make 36 trips to 12 countries this year, hoping to operate on a total of 700+ children worldwide.
See www.babyheart.org (http://www.babyheart.org)
www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15820372 (http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15820372)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)
Socheat was diagnosed with heart defects that required closing a hole, called a ventricular septal defect, and repair of the pulmonary artery between the heart and lungs. The procedure would cost US$5,000 for the hospital stay.
The girls' father Phin Ken was surprised when he landed in Santiago, observing that he was from a Third World country, and wondering why was he coming to another Third World country for the operation. Once in the DR, nevertheless, he realized he had come too far to turn back.
"Luckily, despite the surroundings and the travelers' misgivings, the treatment was first rate," according to the Los Angeles news report.
Dr William Novick, medical director of International Children's Hearts Foundation, confirmed that the child was operated on at the Arturo Grullon Children's Hospital, a public pediatric hospital in Santiago. He said that their teams routinely operate on between 18-23 children during a two-week mission. They plan to make 36 trips to 12 countries this year, hoping to operate on a total of 700+ children worldwide.
See www.babyheart.org (http://www.babyheart.org)
www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15820372 (http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15820372)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)