The Three Rivers Foundation is extending gratitude to its donors, even as it prepares to take 11 persons suffering from brain, heart, liver and other ailments to India for emergency surgery.
Jeanette Singh, President of the Canada-based Founda-tion, said the group comprising 10 children and one adult patient will be travelling to the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Delhi, India on February 15, after spending two nights in Toronto, Canada where they will attend a fundraising event.
The projected cost of the mission is US$166,500 including return airfares for all the patients and their mothers.
According to a press release, the patients are Johnaton Sukhu, Alvin Ramkumar, Peter Charles, Ann Marie Gomes, Jonathan Newton, Kumarie Khuserran, Tajpaul Persaud, Tana Nandalal, Adrian Persaud, Ciara Stanislaus and one adult patient. Five patients will be undergoing open heart surgery; one, brain surgery; one, liver surgery and two will undergo eye surgery. One patient will also be treated for a kidney ailment and one for a skin disease.
The patients are expected to be in Delhi for three weeks.
The Foundation said 13 patients were scheduled to travel on this mission but three-year-old Farad Mohammed and seven-year-old Pholmaitie Singh were sent ahead of the group for urgent care.
Prior to this both children had been hospitalised frequently at the Georgetown hospital over the past few months.
Both children underwent open heart surgery at Max Hospital. Farad underwent a BT shunt and “made a marvellous recovery” and will be returning to Guyana on February 17.
For Pholmaitie, the operation was her third open heart surgery as she had been suffering from a complex form of congenital heart disease and underwent a very high risk total correction operation on January 22. Pholmaitie died on February 4.
Since 2005 the release said that the Foundation has helped over 100 patients from Guyana to obtain lifesaving surgery in India.
It extended gratitude to all those who donated time and money to making these trips possible, particularly the Ministry of Health, Stephanie Green of Caribbean Airlines and Bob Barrow. Sincere gratitude was also extended to all the Canadian donors.
In Guyana the foundation is located at the Gandhi Youth Organisation Building on Woolford Avenue. Contact can also be made via telephone number 225-7758 or website www.threeriverskidsfoundation.org
