By Nicole Falco
Sun arrived with her mother, Xie Yan Sun, on Feb. 10, all the way from a small farming village approximately 150 miles north of Beijing. Sun, an only child, in keeping with China's law, had never been outside her village of 2,000 people before the trip to New York.
Sun was brought to Schneider's Children's Hospital in Lake Success, where surgeons first thought they would have to perform open-heart surgery to repair two holes in her heart. Instead, a surgical team led by Dr. DiPak Kohwadwalla was able to perform a non-invasive catheterization on Feb. 26. Within two hours of the operation, Sun was up and moving around.
"I am very grateful for the care that everybody has offered to our children in China," her mother said through a translator, Doug Lee, chairman of the Chinese Culture Association of Long Island.
"Ten thousand thanks," Mrs. Sun said. "I will bring the love back to China and tell everybody in China about the love and care. Your love does not only extend to America. Your love extends all over the globe."
Sun's surgery was made possible through Gift of Life, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with Rotary International. Gift of Life is made up of doctors, businesspeople and entrepreneurs who donate their time, skill and money to help children with heart problems who would otherwise not be able to afford the surgeries necessary to save their lives.
"In China there is the possibility for open-heart surgery, but it costs a lot and they could never afford it," Lee said. "In China, they don't have the same equipment and technology. The doctors would have had to open her up and it would have been very dangerous."
The Gift of Life receives 50,000 requests from children in need around the world, and it's able to help around 150 children a year. The group raises money to bring the children and their families to one of 100 participating hospitals in the United States, providing free medical attention and post-operative care.
According to Lee, Mrs. Sun thought the doctors were lying when they said her daughter was eligible to come to America for the life-saving operation at no cost. A plane ticket to America would have cost the Suns the equivalent of a year's wages, Mrs. Sun said.
In order to be eligible for the "gift," the patient must be under 18 and be unable to pay for the heart surgery required but, at the same time, must have an excellent chance of surviving an operation. Heart surgery costs an average of $250,000.
Interact, which is the high-school affiliate of Rotary, and SADD hope to sponsor a child, which means the groups would need to raise $5,000, and host the child as they hosted Sun. A host's responsibilities include greeting the child and his or her family at the airport and visiting them while they're here.
Rotary District 7250, which includes Rotaries from Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau, including the Valley Stream chapter, will match the first $5,000 and Rotary International will match that total, making a grand total of $20,000. Sun's trip and operation were sponsored by Tai Wang and the Chinese Culture Association of Long Island, a school in Westbury.
The students, under the supervision of their Interact advisors, Michelle Puleo and Kelli O'Donohue, SADD advisor Lisa Livigni, and Bob Thornton, an administrative associate at North High and president of the Valley Stream Rotary, had a pizza party for Sun in North's library on March 3. The students showered Sun with presents and attention, and Sun showed them how well she could sing the alphabet and color.
She was given a key to the city by Mayor Edward Cahill. The key may just be the first one ever, according to Cahill.
Puleo said the students are looking forward to reaching their goal and becoming more involved during the child's initial visit and recovery.
Anyone interested in helping Interact and SADD raise money for the Gift of Life may make a check payable to the Valley Stream North High School Interact Club. Checks can be mailed to the Interact Club c/o North High School, 750 Herman Avenue, Franklin Square, NY 11010.
