The Heart Surgery Program is one of medical projects that HSCV has been working on for several years. Although it is a small-scale project, it has served its objective well and has saved more than 30 lives of children in Vietnam. This initiative extends its reach beyond the provision of heart surgeries to children who suffer from congenital heart defects. It also provides a helping hand by offering medication and post-surgery medical check-ups.
I am fortunate to be given the opportunity to work on this project and I would like to share some stories of these heart patients whom I have worked closely with..
Story about Ngo Huong Quynh written by Ngo Thuy Hanh
This story, written by an HSCV Team Member, tells the story of a poor girl who suffers from a long-term heart problem. Your kind gesture can certainly go a long way in helping this child lead a normal life, just like her other peers in school.
We were working in the office when two men suddenly came in and said that they were introduced to HSCV by an anonymous person in front of the Hanoi Heart Hospital. This hospital has been working closely with HSCV for several years to offer medical assistance to children who face financial difficulties through the Heart Surgery Program.
One of the men came forward and introduced himself, and explained the purpose of their visit. . They have a 16-year-old niece, Quynh who lives in Thai Binh province who was in need of the assistance from the Heart Surgery Program. She Quynh is the third child and her family faces financial difficulties and is unable to afford proper medical treatment for her heart condition. The family’s situation took a turn for the worst as her father was involved in an unfortunate accident which caused him to be paralyzed and bedridden.
The permanent damage to her father’s brain meant the end of the only source of meager income to her family. Quynh had to stop her visits to the doctor and her medication as a result. Quynh’s condition deteriorated and her mobility was gravely affected. The heart complications had worsened to affect the movements of her hands and legs.
Out of desperation and love for her sickly child, Quynh’s mother had to sell half of the house (land) to raise enough money for her to seek medical help. Her heart surgery cost more than 40,000,000 VND (about $USD 2,500). Her heart surgery caused her family to be near penniless, thankfully, the operation was a success.
Little did her mother expect that it was not the end of her woes. The post-surgery’s medical treatment would require Quynh to be on long term medication and go for regular medical checks at the hospital for at least the next two years. These expenses would cost about 2,000,000 VND ($122) each month and this would amount to 36,000,000 VND ($ 2,182) in total. The short-lived hope turned to despair since the family had nothing else to sell to sustain her post-surgery medical treatment. Without the treatment, Quynh’s condition would be at risk and it could eventually cause her life to be at stake. When her relative heard about the HSCV’s Heart Surgery Program, it gave them a ray of hope.
As much as HSCV would like to offer financial assistance to this little gal, we are cash-strapped and we find it very difficult to fund her medical treatment. We have attempted to help her in other ways by posting her information in the official HSCV website and appealing to the cyber-community for kind souls who are able to help her and give her a chance to survive.
Please take a look at this article and open your heart to a person who is really in need of your help.
Sincerely,
Hanh Ngo
Special thanks to HSCV for the help. Huong Quynh has written a letter and mailed this to me. This is the translated version of her letter.
Upon reading her her letter, you will see how excellent Quynh is as a student. Not only has she excelled in her subjects such as Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, she also has a natural flair for writing and has great handwriting.
Thai Binh 5th March, 2009
Dear Hanh,
Since my first encounter with you, you have been a great help to me and my family, both in terms of giving material assistance but also in constantly giving me moral support. I’m very touched by your kindness and help indeed.
I understand that although life is tough and full of sadness, if you open your heart, someone will bring help to you. Today, I would like to write a letter to express my sincere gratitude to all of you in the organization – HSCV I would also like to share -some innermost secrets of my life that I have never told anyone before,,
Firstly, I would like to wish all of you all the best wishes, wishing everyone happiness, good health and success, especially for your choice of this career you chosen to bring happiness to others,
Dear Sir/Madam,
Whenever I think about my past, I feel deeply saddened and can’t seem to control my tears. There are six members in my humble family. My parents are farmers. Our survival and money is dependant on the two rice harvests each year.
My older sister was married and moved to a remote area. My older brother is a worker and my younger brother has cerebral palsy. My family’s financial situation is not better compared to others.
About a year ago, my father was involved in a severe accident which almost cost his life. He managed to survive, but the accident has affected him badly. Now, he behaves like a 3 year- old boy, and it really saddens us to see our father in this state.
This has made our financial situation even more trying than before. My poor mother is frail and has always been suffering from sickness. With this heavy burden on her shoulders, she toiled day and night to earn money for the family. It pains me to see my mother suffer and I am unable to do much to help her because of my heart problem. At times, I blamed myself for causing distress to my family and suffered the guilt in silence.
My parents were very happy when I came back from the successful heart surgery. However, when they realized that I would need to be on long term medication for 2 years and would need a large amount of money to finance this medical expenses, it was demoralizing. The disappointment and despair on my parents’ faces was vivid though they tried to conceal it. My heart aches as I could still see the disappointment in their eyes. Honestly, I am helpless and I do not know what to do but cry my heart out and blame myself for causing my family grieve.
The support that you have given to me and my family is like a dream come true. Your support to us is not just in the material sense, but your continuous support has helped eased my parents of the burden and stress.. Thank you very much for your help, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The love and the help that I have received from the community has really dispelled the darkness and help me to overcome challenges I faced.
I do not know what else to say except thank you very much for everything that you have done for me. And now, I have renewed health and happiness. I promise that I will study hard in order to have a chance to help other people and bring happiness to others like what you are doing now.
Finally, I wish all of you (people who are working in HSCV) good health, happiness in the work that you are doing.
Sincerely,
Ngo Huong Quynh
If you would like to help Quyen please send donations to HSCV.
Mail checks to:
HSCV
2956 Spring Lake Road
Prior Lake, MN 55372
USA
Or donate online using Paypal by following this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4426765
To learn more about our Heart Surgery Program visit our website at: http://www.hscv.org/medical_hearts.htm
I am fortunate to be given the opportunity to work on this project and I would like to share some stories of these heart patients whom I have worked closely with..
Story about Ngo Huong Quynh written by Ngo Thuy Hanh
This story, written by an HSCV Team Member, tells the story of a poor girl who suffers from a long-term heart problem. Your kind gesture can certainly go a long way in helping this child lead a normal life, just like her other peers in school.
We were working in the office when two men suddenly came in and said that they were introduced to HSCV by an anonymous person in front of the Hanoi Heart Hospital. This hospital has been working closely with HSCV for several years to offer medical assistance to children who face financial difficulties through the Heart Surgery Program.
One of the men came forward and introduced himself, and explained the purpose of their visit. . They have a 16-year-old niece, Quynh who lives in Thai Binh province who was in need of the assistance from the Heart Surgery Program. She Quynh is the third child and her family faces financial difficulties and is unable to afford proper medical treatment for her heart condition. The family’s situation took a turn for the worst as her father was involved in an unfortunate accident which caused him to be paralyzed and bedridden.
The permanent damage to her father’s brain meant the end of the only source of meager income to her family. Quynh had to stop her visits to the doctor and her medication as a result. Quynh’s condition deteriorated and her mobility was gravely affected. The heart complications had worsened to affect the movements of her hands and legs.
Out of desperation and love for her sickly child, Quynh’s mother had to sell half of the house (land) to raise enough money for her to seek medical help. Her heart surgery cost more than 40,000,000 VND (about $USD 2,500). Her heart surgery caused her family to be near penniless, thankfully, the operation was a success.
Little did her mother expect that it was not the end of her woes. The post-surgery’s medical treatment would require Quynh to be on long term medication and go for regular medical checks at the hospital for at least the next two years. These expenses would cost about 2,000,000 VND ($122) each month and this would amount to 36,000,000 VND ($ 2,182) in total. The short-lived hope turned to despair since the family had nothing else to sell to sustain her post-surgery medical treatment. Without the treatment, Quynh’s condition would be at risk and it could eventually cause her life to be at stake. When her relative heard about the HSCV’s Heart Surgery Program, it gave them a ray of hope.
As much as HSCV would like to offer financial assistance to this little gal, we are cash-strapped and we find it very difficult to fund her medical treatment. We have attempted to help her in other ways by posting her information in the official HSCV website and appealing to the cyber-community for kind souls who are able to help her and give her a chance to survive.
Please take a look at this article and open your heart to a person who is really in need of your help.
Sincerely,
Hanh Ngo
Special thanks to HSCV for the help. Huong Quynh has written a letter and mailed this to me. This is the translated version of her letter.
Upon reading her her letter, you will see how excellent Quynh is as a student. Not only has she excelled in her subjects such as Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, she also has a natural flair for writing and has great handwriting.
Thai Binh 5th March, 2009
Dear Hanh,
Since my first encounter with you, you have been a great help to me and my family, both in terms of giving material assistance but also in constantly giving me moral support. I’m very touched by your kindness and help indeed.
I understand that although life is tough and full of sadness, if you open your heart, someone will bring help to you. Today, I would like to write a letter to express my sincere gratitude to all of you in the organization – HSCV I would also like to share -some innermost secrets of my life that I have never told anyone before,,
Firstly, I would like to wish all of you all the best wishes, wishing everyone happiness, good health and success, especially for your choice of this career you chosen to bring happiness to others,
Dear Sir/Madam,
Whenever I think about my past, I feel deeply saddened and can’t seem to control my tears. There are six members in my humble family. My parents are farmers. Our survival and money is dependant on the two rice harvests each year.
My older sister was married and moved to a remote area. My older brother is a worker and my younger brother has cerebral palsy. My family’s financial situation is not better compared to others.
About a year ago, my father was involved in a severe accident which almost cost his life. He managed to survive, but the accident has affected him badly. Now, he behaves like a 3 year- old boy, and it really saddens us to see our father in this state.
This has made our financial situation even more trying than before. My poor mother is frail and has always been suffering from sickness. With this heavy burden on her shoulders, she toiled day and night to earn money for the family. It pains me to see my mother suffer and I am unable to do much to help her because of my heart problem. At times, I blamed myself for causing distress to my family and suffered the guilt in silence.
My parents were very happy when I came back from the successful heart surgery. However, when they realized that I would need to be on long term medication for 2 years and would need a large amount of money to finance this medical expenses, it was demoralizing. The disappointment and despair on my parents’ faces was vivid though they tried to conceal it. My heart aches as I could still see the disappointment in their eyes. Honestly, I am helpless and I do not know what to do but cry my heart out and blame myself for causing my family grieve.
The support that you have given to me and my family is like a dream come true. Your support to us is not just in the material sense, but your continuous support has helped eased my parents of the burden and stress.. Thank you very much for your help, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The love and the help that I have received from the community has really dispelled the darkness and help me to overcome challenges I faced.
I do not know what else to say except thank you very much for everything that you have done for me. And now, I have renewed health and happiness. I promise that I will study hard in order to have a chance to help other people and bring happiness to others like what you are doing now.
Finally, I wish all of you (people who are working in HSCV) good health, happiness in the work that you are doing.
Sincerely,
Ngo Huong Quynh
If you would like to help Quyen please send donations to HSCV.
Mail checks to:
HSCV
2956 Spring Lake Road
Prior Lake, MN 55372
USA
Or donate online using Paypal by following this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4426765
To learn more about our Heart Surgery Program visit our website at: http://www.hscv.org/medical_hearts.htm
Blogged by Ngo Thuy Hanh
No comments:
Post a Comment