GEORGE TOWN: Month-old Cheah Zong Ting had an urgent operation recently to correct a heart-related birth defect.

The operation at the Gleneagles Medical Centre here was to litigate a large patent ductus arteriosus -- the presence of an extra blood vessel outside the heart.

His parents, a wireman and a sales promoter who together earn RM1,600 a month, are depending on the public to help them settle his surgery and hospital bill of between RM15,000 and RM20,000.

They have two other children aged 1 and 3.

Also appealing for aid is the family of 1-year-old Zulaikha Arisya Mohd Zahir who has been diagnosed with congenital heart lesions.
She has a hole between the two lower chambers of the heart and patent ductus arteriosus. The birth defects have resulted in heart failure.

She needs early surgery to correct both the defects at the same time, but her parents are unable to come up with the estimated RM30,000 to RM32,000 needed for her surgery and post-operative care at Gleneagles.

Her father, a lorry driver from Kulim, Kedah, earns between RM1,000 and RM1,300 a month while her mother is a housewife.

They have two other children aged 8 and 10.

Those who wish to help them can send cheques made payable to The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, with the children's names written on the reverse.

Send to: The Cashier, Finance Department/Charity Unit, The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, Balai Berita, No 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.