2-year-old one of many being helped by Hearts Without Boundaries
Socheat Ngor11/27/2009
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)
Hers are the eyes that drive Peter Chhun and give Hearts Without Boundaries its mission.
Socheat Ngor is 2 years old. She is one of 17 children on a waiting list to receive help from Chhun's fledgling organization, that seeks to treatment and surgeries for children with ailing hearts.
Ngor lives in poverty in Takeo Province in Cambodia, south of Phnom Penh. Her father, Pin Kean, is a farmer.
When Ngor was 4 months old, she was diagnosed with not one but two significant holes in her heart.
Her parents have been told she cannot be helped in Cambodia.
Chhun says he recently spoke with Ngor's family in Long Beach.
Because of the economy, Chhun has been unable to find hospitals in the U.S. to sponsor the surgeries of the many children who have requested help.
So he is embarking on a new tack with families like that of Ngor.
"With our funds we cannot take care of all the children," Chhun said. "So Hearts Without Boundaries is trying to educate people to be helpful in their own causes."
Chhun said if a family like that of Ngor can take the reins and raise the $30,000 needed for surgery in a country such as Thailand or Singapore, which has the facilities and the personnel to perform open heart surgery, Hearts Without Boundaries will organize the effort and help the families arrange the procedures.
Chhun has already arranged for Ngor to be seen at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap to have an American cardiologist, Dr. Paul Grossfeld, confirm the girl's diagnosis and discuss possible option
Socheat Ngor is 2 years old. She is one of 17 children on a waiting list to receive help from Chhun's fledgling organization, that seeks to treatment and surgeries for children with ailing hearts.
Ngor lives in poverty in Takeo Province in Cambodia, south of Phnom Penh. Her father, Pin Kean, is a farmer.
When Ngor was 4 months old, she was diagnosed with not one but two significant holes in her heart.
Her parents have been told she cannot be helped in Cambodia.
Chhun says he recently spoke with Ngor's family in Long Beach.
Because of the economy, Chhun has been unable to find hospitals in the U.S. to sponsor the surgeries of the many children who have requested help.
So he is embarking on a new tack with families like that of Ngor.
"With our funds we cannot take care of all the children," Chhun said. "So Hearts Without Boundaries is trying to educate people to be helpful in their own causes."
Chhun said if a family like that of Ngor can take the reins and raise the $30,000 needed for surgery in a country such as Thailand or Singapore, which has the facilities and the personnel to perform open heart surgery, Hearts Without Boundaries will organize the effort and help the families arrange the procedures.
Chhun has already arranged for Ngor to be seen at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap to have an American cardiologist, Dr. Paul Grossfeld, confirm the girl's diagnosis and discuss possible option
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