Heart Children Need Help

From: NST 21st June 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Five children, born with complex congenital heart diseases, need to undergo corrective heart operations to lead normal lives.

Six-month-old Ahmad Dhani Aryan Muhammad Sukri has pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum where the blood vessel to the lungs is completely disconnected from the right heart chamber.His father Muhammad Sukri Abdul Aziz, a technician and mother Siti Zuati Jafri, an administrative assistant, have already spent RM25,000 to install a Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt to connect the blood vessel to the upper limb with the blood vessel to the right lung when Ahmad Dhani was a week old last December.

He also underwent an operation to enlarge the connection between the upper chambers of the heart costing RM30,000 at Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Ampang on May 20.

The couple earn a combined income of RM3,310. Sukri said they had no more savings left to pay for the corrective heart operation.Vason Nanda Chandra, 18 months old, underwent an operation to close the holes in his heart on June 10. The operation cost RM30,000.

He now needs corrective heart operation to avoid irreversible lung damage which would predispose him to serious lung infections. He also suffers from Down's syndrome.His mother S. Vijaya Letchumi, 35, a housewife, said her husband Chandra Sena had abandoned them. "My younger sister, earning RM1,000 a month, is supporting us and I receive RM240 from the Welfare Department."

Nineteen-month-old Phang Ker Xing has only one effective pumping heart chamber as well as a hole in her heart. She requires a Glenn shunt operation costing RM40,000 to connect the blood circulation from the upper part of the body to the blood vessel to the lungs in order to reduce the workload of her heart.Her father Phang Wu Thong, 21, a technician earning RM900 and mother Yea Wen Kee, also 21, a customer service executive earning RM1,510, cannot afford to pay for her operation.Vilasnidevi Achu Naidu, 18 months old, the adopted child of part-time lorry driver Annathurai Ratnam, 45, and housewife Minah Ayappan, 25, needs RM41,000 for a Glenn shunt operation to enlarge the connection between her heart's two upper chambers.

Vilasnidevi was born with only one pumping heart chamber, with no connecting valve between the left upper and left lower heart chambers as well as no connection between the blood vessel to the lungs. Kendrick Foo Jia Wee, 2, needs a Glenn shunt operation to repair the narrowing between the left and right blood vessels to the lungs, costing RM36,000.His father Foo Chee Keong, 35, an engineer earning RM3,500 and mother Ng Boon Sin, 27, a sales coordinator earning RM2,300, have already paid RM32,000 for installing two BT shunts to supply extra blood to the lungs.

Those who wish to help these children can send their cheques, with their names written on the back, made payable to The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, to: The Cashier, Finance Department/Charity Unit, The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Balai Berita, No. 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.