KUALA LUMPUR: The parents of two infants suffering from heart ailments are appealing for donations.
Two-month-old Tang Gaa Xin and 3-month-old Che Kumar Ammar Zaqwan Ab Hamid need RM80,000 and RM60,000, respectively for surgeries.
The first baby’s father, Tang Yong Chai, 31, said his son was diagnosed with interrupted aortic arch, or abnormal blood vessel, and ventricular septal defect (VSD), commonly known as a hole in the heart.
“When Gaa Xin was 25 days old, he couldn’t stop crying, and his lips and nails turned pale. I rushed him to the hospital and doctors detected a 1cm and 0.5cm hole in the wall of his heart. He underwent two surgeries,” said Tang, who helps in the family’s baking business.
His son, the youngest of three siblings was later referred to Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur and needs to undergo surgery to save his life.
Che Kumar suffers from transposition of great arteries, in which two major vessels switched places. He needs surgery to place those vessels to their pumping chambers.
His father, Ab Hamid Salleh, 49, said a doctor diagnosed his son with the condition after he was sick when at 2 months old.
“My son cried nonstop and became weak. He vomited after my wife breastfed him. The next day, I went to the hospital and the doctor said my son was in critical condition. He had to undergo surgery right away. But that minor surgery failed and my son needs to undergo open-heart surgery at Gleneagles.”
Ab Hamid, who works as a lorry driver, said they could not afford his son’s operation with the family’s monthly income of RM1,200.
Those who wish to donate can send cheques made payable to the Media Prima-NSTP Humanitarian Fund with the patient’s name written on the reverse side of the cheque and addressed to: Group Corporate Communications Department, Media Prima Bhd, Level 3, Anjung Liku, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, 59100 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.
The public may also send their donations to Maybank account number 5141-0532-3170.