Thirteen Guyanese, including 10 children, left for Delhi, India yesterday for critical medical treatment through a medical mission organised by Three Rivers Kids Foundation of Canada.
The projected cost of the mission is US$175,000, and this includes all the medical and surgical fees, all airfares, food and accommodation and the cost of prescription medications that the patients will need to take home with them, a press release from the foundation stated.
President of Three Rivers Kids Foundation, Jeanette Singh said, “The reason that we have to take these children to India for treatment is because Guyana lacks many medical facilities and specialists; in particular there are no paediatric cardiologists or paediatric surgeons.”
Overseas-based relatives of five of the patients have paid for their medical fees and airfares, while the Ministry of Health here has contributed US$13,000. The foundation will pay the remainder of the cost of the mission, the release stated.
The group will be treated at Batra Hospital and Research Centre in New Delhi where 11 cardiac surgeries will be performed besides a kidney transplant case and an orthopaedic case.
The group consisting of 27 people, 13 patients, 13 companions, and one doctor, travelled to India via Toronto.
The release listed the names of the patients as five-year-old Breanna Hunte of Georgetown; seven-year-old Shiv Sooklall of Leguan; five-year-old Jasmine Fredericks of Sophia; ten-year-old Bhanumatie Persaud of Canal Number Two; fpur-year-old Karan Ornahunde of Skeldon; one-year-old Makhi Winfield of Linden; seven-year-old Beesham Singh of Wakenaam; five-year-old Farziena Ali of New Amsterdam; 18-month-old Marissa Roopchand of Cornelia Ida; two-year-old Virendra Dookie of Tuschen; Marlon Reid, 24, of Berbice; Sudarshanie Lalgie, 22, of New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, and Sukhranie Victor, 42, of Good Fortune.
Nine of the 11 patients will have open heart surgeries. Sudarshanie Lalgie who is suffering from kidney failure for the past two years will have a kidney transplant. Her father, who lives in Toronto, is donating one of his kidneys Beesham Singh, who was born without a left hip, will be having a left hip prosthesis inserted, the release added.
