PETALING JAYA: The family of a one-year-old boy is appealing for donations to enable him to undergo urgent heart surgery, which would help him lead a normal life.
Rizal Shafwan Sayuti from Tanah Merah, Kelantan has been diagnosed with Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) failure.
He needs RM30,000 to undergo the necessary corrective surgery at the Sunway Medical Centre.
The boy's father Sayuti Abdul Rahman, an army personnel attached to the Desa Pahlawan camp in Machang, said his son, the youngest of four, first displayed breathing problems when he was taken to get his vaccine shots at the district health clinic.
"He was four-months-old at the time. The clinic referred him to the Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital in Kuala Krai.
"Doctors performed an echocardiogram and found murmur as well as a heart condition consistent with a PDA failure before they referred us here," said the 39-year-old when met at the medical centre here.
Sayuti said his eldest son, who is 14, had a similar heart condition when he was a child but after corrective surgery at a hospital in Johor Bharu, he now leads a normal life.
Sayuti, who is the family's sole breadwinner, said he cannot afford to raise the money on his own.
"My children are still schooling and my wife is a stay-at-home mother. We survive solely on my salary which is about RM3,000 a month.
"He (Rizal) needs the operation as soon as possible otherwise his condition could become more complicated. I hope there are some kind souls out there who will help us," he said.
Dr Ang Hak Lee who is Sunway Medical Centre's consultant paediatrician and paediatric cardiologist, is expected to perform the surgery with a fellow cardiac surgeon.
"The surgery is needed to close the PDA which interrupts the circulation flow. The problem can cause the heart to swell over time and possibly fail if left untreated," he said.
Donors can send cheques made payable to the Media Prima-NSTP Humanitarian Fund at Group Corporate Communications Department, Media Prima Bhd, Level 1, Anjung Riong, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, 59100 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (with the patient's name written on the reverse side of the cheque).
The public may also send their donations to Media Prima-NSTP Humanitarian Fund's Maybank account 5141-0532-3170 and indicate the patient's name on the recipient's reference or other payment details field.