At a Recent Fundraising Event for Heart Care International, Sally and Robert Michler, Founder and Chairman, Standing with Courtney and Chris Combe, Current Board Member
- Heart defects are the most common form of birth defect in children. Every year it is estimated that 1.3 million children will be born with some form of heart defect.
- If born in the United States, almost all of these children will be cured by pediatric cardio-thoracic medical specialists, regardless of their ability to afford these services.
- If born in a developing country, almost all of these children will succumb to their disease, due to the LACK of pediatric cardio-thoracic medical resources available in their country.
- Traveling to the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru, Heart Care International’s comprehensive pediatric heart care medical team (including medical experts from eight different medical disciplines) has saved the lives of over 1000 children since 1994 and left an indelible legacy of expertly trained medical professionals, working with over 550 in-country medical professionals to teach them how to administer state-of-the-art medical care to children battling heart defects.
- Heart Care International mission trips are underway for Peru (November 2014), El Salvador (January 2015) and Mexico (spring 2015).
- The charity provides the entire medical team, as well as all medical supplies, medicines and equipment necessary to evaluate, diagnose and successfully treat (surgical and medical) all children under their care.
Getting Ready for Heart Surgery
Heart Care International has so many success stories with its patients. Claudia Tujab is one such child whose life was saved during one of Heart Care International’s first pediatric heart care missions. At the time, Claudia was six years old and had been living with a hole in her heart since she was born. She was unable to run, play and go to school like her peers and instead was confined to her bed because her heart was not pumping enough oxygen to allow her to breathe normally. There were no medical resources in her country to perform the delicate heart surgery that was needed to correct her heart defect until Heart Care International arrived. Today, Claudia is a grown woman, energetic, enthusiastic and excited to have been given a second chance at life.
Claudia Tujab, One of Heart Care International’s Many Success Stories
Because of the generous support of medical supply companies, Heart Care International is able to conduct cost-effective heart care missions in developing countries at a fraction of what the same procedure would cost in the United States. The estimated cost for a Heart Care International pediatric surgical procedure in a developing country is $2500, while the same procedure here in the United States could cost as least $25,000. Although the cost of performing life-saving heart surgery on a child in a developing country is thus relatively minimal, like any other 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Heart Care International must depend on financial support from a wide donor base. With increased funding, Heart Care International can save even more lives. Just $2500 will save the life of one child! With additional support, how many more children can Heart Care International save?
We are so happy to support this important cause here: Donate. Another easy way to help Heart Care International is with Amazon Smiles (you know how we love Amazon Prime!). Just shop on Amazon as you normally would, and Amazon will make a donation to Heart Care International (.05 percent of the total purchase). It is FREE to the purchaser and so easy to use. Simply designate Heart Care International as your charity of choice and start shopping!
Every dollar counts! Let’s all make a difference and donate to an extraordinary cause: Heart Care International.
Related Articles:
An Extraordinary Woman who Conquered Adversity to Help Others
Recent Comments