Georgi’s Story
Georgi with his parents upon arriving in Boston for surgery
Guergana Barabonkova came to this country from Bulgaria 10 years ago. She is an architect who lives in Stoneham, MA with her husband and son. She is clearly a woman who likes to help others because when she read Georgi’s story she went directly to work researching medical websites looking for experts who had worked with Short Bowel Syndrome. Finally she came across the name of Dr. Heung Bae Kim at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Kim had invented the STEP (serial transverse enteroplasty) procedure and in 2002 performed the first such procedure making Children’s Hospital the preeminent hospital in the world for treating Short Bowel Syndrome.
Guergana knew the family had no money for the expensive surgery and that the Bulgarian government was unwilling to participate so she began calling organizations that might provide financial help. She was turned away by all of them, but one of the agencies did tell her about The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation. She visited the Foundation’s website and filled out an application for help. After reviewing the case the Foundation agreed to fund a large portion of the hospital costs for Georgi. Meanwhile, Guergana had kept in touch with a volunteer agency in Bulgaria that reported her inroads here in Boston to the Bulgarian media. Soon, Mr. Tye was contacted for an in-depth interview by the largest radio station in Bulgaria.
In praise of the media, the story was published far and wide in Bulgaria and suddenly the government decided it would be wise to subsidize an equal portion of Georgi’s medical costs. But more money was still needed. Guergana worked with Children’s Hospital to raise additional funds while the Borisov family ran their own fund-raising campaign at home that produced over $40,000.
Dr. Kim
Georgi’s case had become so popular in Bulgaria after the financial commitment made by The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation that the government there cooperated further by issuing the family’s travel visas, usually impossible to obtain, right away. On this side, Fernanda Medeiros at Children’s Hospital completed and sent all the necessary paperwork to the Embassy in Bulgaria to expedite the process.
On May 1, 2008, Dr. Kim and his team operated on Georgi. Today he goes to school, eats well following a careful diet, and is just fine. The following letters and statements tell more about the happy ending to this story.
