Seeking help for heart operations

Seeking help for heart operations

Picture above: Muhammad Razin Wafiy Muhd Ridhuan with his parents (left) and Lau Hong Shen with his parents.

KUALA LUMPUR - Two infants with heart problems are in urgent need of funds to undergo heart surgeries.

Muhammad Razin Wafiy Muhd Ridhuan, who is less than 2 months old, suffers from tricuspid atresia, where the valve connecting the right upper and lower chamber of the heart is missing or completely blocked, and ventrical septal defect, a large hole between the two pumping chambers.

He also has a hypoplastic right ventrical, or a small right sided pumping chamber, and severe sub-pulmonary stenosis, a severe blockage of the blood vessel to the lungs.

Razin Wafiy is kept alive by the infusion of a medicine called protasgladin.

He needs an operation called right BT shunt to allow blood supply to the blood vessels of the lungs in preparation for further operative repair.

His father, Muhd Ridhuan Jafar, 27, a technician who earns RM1,070 (S$429.6) per month and his mother Rosliana Nawi, 26, a housewife, cannot afford to pay for the RM25,000 operation.

Ridhuan said he only found out about Razin Wafiy's condition when he was two weeks old.

"The first two weeks after finding out about my baby's condition, I cried every day."

Meanwhile, year-old Lau Hong Shen suffers from pulmonary atresia, where the blood vessels to the lungs are completely separated from the right sided pumping chamber's right ventricle, and ventricular septal defect, or a hole in the heart.

He needs a right and left BT shunt operation to disconnect the blood supply to both the lungs and replace them with two artificial tubes called BT shunts. This will prepare him for a final operative repair at the age of five. The cost of the two operations is RM38,000.

His father, Lau Chong Cheng, 37, a client relations agent who earns RM1,500 per month and his mother, Leow Yen Lee, 33, a housewife, cannot afford to pay the fee as they have two other children, aged 5 and 3, to support as well.

They have spent RM10,000 of their own savings on Hong Shen's medical fees.

Hong Shen is only 7.33kg when he is supposed to weigh 12kg and above at the age of 1.

Those who wish to help can send cheques made payable to The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd with the child's name written on the reverse side of the cheque and addressed to: The Cashier, Finance Department/Charity Unit NSTP, The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

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