The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation

By Nancy Flagg

“The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation does the climbing, swimming and walking for those who cannot.”

The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation has proven to be a phenomenon. In just two years, the Foundation has taken care of 21 cases and reviewed hundreds more. We have a never-ending stream of appeals and we’re proud to say that every appeal is reviewed and every appeal receives a response. It is not always possible to help someone in need because we adhere to our by-laws which state that we exist to provide life-saving treatments and surgery to those who have no insurance or no other means of payment. We do, however, always try to provide referral information to those cases that do not fit into our guidelines and we hope that this assistance will ultimately lead to the help that’s needed. To date, the Foundation has partially or fully funded all cases that have been within the guidelines set forth in our by-laws. (more…)

By Tom Cronin, CFP

Tom Cronin, CFP, is Vice President of Eastern Investment Advisors in Boston and is an active supporter of The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation.

The United States government provides incentives for Americans to give to charity by allowing tax benefits. Most Individuals are aware of these and take advantage of the income tax deduction when giving to charities. However, there is one tax benefit that is not typically utilized by charitable minded Americans, and that is the avoidance of capital gain when gifting appreciated assets—stocks in particular. (more…)

We cannot reveal her name or her whereabouts. We cannot publish a photo. To do any of these would jeopardize her life—a life that was nearly taken from her in a horrifying series of events when she was just 13 years old.

This story starts in Sierra Leone, a tiny country in West Africa that is the poorest country in the world according to UN figures. It is a country that has been engaged in civil war for over 11 years resulting in a deep, unrelenting humanitarian crisis that has left it devastated. As many as 75,000 people have been killed, and over 2 million forcefully displaced. It cannot be calculated how many have been victims of well-documented terror tactics like abduction, rape, torture and mutilation. Presently, trials are taking place in a UN-backed special court in which those who committed crimes against humanity are being tried. Key to these trials are the witnesses, who are under protection of the court for their safety. The court also specifies that medical treatments, as needed, be sought for these exceptionally courageous individuals who are risking their lives to bring the guilty rebels to justice.

In a letter from the clinical psychologist who supervises the medical and psychological care provided for witnesses in the court, help was sought for “M” who was a victim of extreme sexual violence 10 years ago when she was no more than a child. She was captured by 6 anti-government rebels and for days was forced to witness atrocities and killings. Ultimately, she was raped repeatedly by all of them; fists and foreign objects were brutally forced into her vagina. (more…)

written by Dick O’Toole

Following is an article by Dick O’Toole about one of the Foundation’s recent cases, 8-year old Abdul Hakim Hussein. This child and his family were victims of a late night American air strike in 2004 as they slept peacefully in their Fallujah home. Young Abdul was maimed and disfigured in the attack; his pregnant mother was injured as debris ripped through her torso, claiming her unborn baby. For the next two months, as the war raged on around him, Abdul Hakim endured several surgeries to his damaged face, including removal of his ruined eye and the placement of a makeshift prosthesis that actually caused further disfigurement. When the boy finally returned to his school, his friends and classmates turned away from him in disgust. But there are thousands of Abdul Hakims and the American organization, No More Victims, is in the business of helping them. They arranged for Abdul and his father Ismael, to travel to Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital to seek treatments from experts there. However the hospital was not able to meet the financial needs of Abdul’s extensive surgeries and it looked as if the boy would return home untreated. Enter Mr. and Mrs. O’Toole who read of the boy’s plight in the Pittsburgh papers. They immediately contacted The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation that committed the needed $50,000 for the boy’s medical and surgical needs, and the rest is history. (more…)

This story is like a finely woven tapestry. The details could not be more individual, far-flung or unusual, yet they come together in seamless fashion to create a big picture that shows us several people, cultures and scenes from distant lands. Here are the details: was born in Mongolia in February 2005.  He was found to have a fatal heart defect known as Transposition of the Great Arteries, which if left untreated, would surely kill him before he was 3 months old.  He needed immediate help that was not available to him in his remote corner of the world.  Thankfully, his uncle, Soyola Baasan, living in California, had access to the Internet and a wide world of potential medical assistance.  He sent almost 1,000 e-mails to people and institutions around the globe that he thought might help, but received only two responses.  One of these was from Dr. Evan Garfein, who as God would have it, possessed the heart and spirit to help as well as the right contacts to cardiac surgeons who could do the job.  Dr. Garfein immediately contacted Dr. Pedro del Nido, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, who said he and his team would perform the surgery at no cost if he could view the baby’s echocardiogram and confirm the diagnosis.  Mailing the films from Mongolia to Boston would have caused potentially fatal time delays, and after many phone calls a television station in Mongolia agreed to upload the baby’s heart video onto their web site where it could be instantly viewed and confirmed by Dr. del Nido.  The diagnosis was corroborated, but the clock was ticking and two large obstacles still remained.
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