Penang, Malaysia …. [John T. Banks/ANN]
A three-week-old girl, born with four critical heart defects, is on her way to recovery after surgery at a Seventh-day Adventist-run hospital in Penang, Malaysia. Two operations fixed an interrupted aortic arch and reconnected a blood vessel in the heart.
“This is the first time such surgery had been carried out at Penang Adventist Hospital,” said Teddric Jon Mohr, hospital president and CEO.
“The generosity of past donors made it possible for us to proceed with the operation without delay,” he added, according to The Star newspaper.
Ng Ee Siew will have two more operations next year to complete repairs
to the four heart defects. Ee Siew’s first two operations in early
November at the hospital was RM 40,000 (US $10,563), even though her parents could only pay half the cost. The hospital’s “Heart Patients Fund” supplied the rest of the money, and is seeking to raise another RM 40,000 (US $10,563) to cover the child’s future operations.
On Nov. 19, hospital officials, joined by Miss Malaysia 2003, Mabel Ng Chin Mei, an ambassador for the Heart Patients Fund, spoke at a press conference to raise money for the fund and explain the procedures performed on baby Ee Siew.
“We are doing this because of humanity. What we, ourselves, can do is just a little bit, perhaps. But for the family, it is a big thing,” Mei said. She then encouraged people to donate whatever they could “toward this appeal for this special baby.”
The hospital currently performs two heart surgeries per day and is aiming to perform four per day. Patients come from as far away as nearby countries for the specialized surgery and attention at the hospital. The theme of the hospital proudly displayed over the main entrance is “God Heals — We Help.”
The mission of mending hearts continues at the hospital through the generosity of supporters of the Heart Patients Fund. Since 1988 more than RM 3.5 million (US $921,052) has been disbursed to 337 patients.
The hospital, which celebrates its 80th anniversary on Dec. 12, began as a simple outpatient clinic started by an Adventist missionary couple. It has grown into a 276-bed hospital with more than 700 volunteers and staff.
Though the initial purpose of the hospital had been to serve the community of Penang, the area the hospital serves has grown beyond borders, allowing it to reach out to those from developed countries such as the United Kingdom and Singapore, as well as to developing countries such as Cambodia and Indonesia.
