The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation

By Terri Carlson

The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation gets petitions for help from all over the world. The majority of these requests come through the Foundation’s website (rtmaf.org). I review each request to see if it falls within our mission statement, “To provide life-saving medical treatments and surgeries to those who have no medical insurance or other means to pay for their care.” Regardless of whether or not we can help we respond to each request promptly and with respect. If we determine this is a life-saving situation, we follow up with the family to gather all medical information.

When the information has been received we talk with our medical Advisory Board to determine which hospital/doctor would be the most appropriate to handle the case. We then contact the hospital to get estimates for the treatment and to negotiate favorable financial arrangements. When all paperwork is complete the pending case goes to Mr. Tye for approval. Most cases are urgent and immediate action is needed to save a life. The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation is unique in its ability and willingness to make decisions within a matter of days; at this point the family and the hospital can be notified, travel arrangements can be made and the process of saving a life has begun.

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By Dr. Aaron Fay

Occasionally, seemingly small contributions can be quite powerful. Earlier this year we were privileged to make just such a contribution. On March 27, 2008, we were contacted about a small 3 ½ year old boy named Peter Oyuga who lived with his parents and siblings on a peasant farm in Bundiidi, Uganda.

Peter had been diagnosed with retinoblastoma, the most common pediatric intraocular malignancy. Unfortunately, the astute Ugandan ophthalmologists were unable to provide the care necessary to remedy his disease, which is eminently treatable here in the USA. Peter’s parents did everything they could to find care for their son, exhausting the family’s resources. When Peter finally came to the attention of The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation, Peter’s right eye disease had advanced considerably and the left eye was showing advancing as well. By the time transportation and legal logistics could be arranged, his health had deteriorated. Ultimately, we were able to provide Peter palliation and comfort in his waning days. Of additional benefit was the comfort his family felt knowing they had advocated to the limit for their beloved child.

Shortly after his arrival at the Hospital; Peter succumbed to his disease. At the request of his parents, we operated posthumously, removing massive facial tumors and making him presentable, in their eyes, for their traditional burial ceremonies.

Peter’s parents never stopped trying to give him the best care in the world, which they found at Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary (a teaching arm of Harvard Medical School). They are inexpressibly grateful for what seems to us a trivial contribution. Hopefully, their efforts will help us save some of the several young children in Bundiidi who apparently have the same type of cancer. Currently, we are assembling a Team to travel to Uganda to begin the process of identifying and healing these children.

Our gratitude and many thanks to The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation for helping to make this possible for Peter, his family, and the children of Bundiidi.

WBZTV.com - Jun 17, 2009
by Malika  Marshall, MD

But the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation has made it possible for Nadia Al-Azzawi, a mother of three from Baghdad, to get the care she so desperately needed.

BOSTON (WBZ) – An Iraqi mother is looking at her future with new hope thanks to a Boston hospital and a local foundation that helps patients with life-saving care.

Imagine having a life-threatening condition and not being able to get the treatment you need because of your religion or because you can’t afford it.

But the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation has made it possible for a mother of three from Baghdad to get the care she so desperately needed.

Fifty-year-old Nadia Al-Azzawi had a defibrillator implanted in her chest at an Iraqi hospital seven years ago. She had it replaced in 2005, but then it became infected.

Dr. Laurence Epstein of Brigham & Women’s Hospital explains, “She went to the hospital because the hospital was a Shiite and she was a Sunni so they wouldn’t take care of her, so she went for months with this implanted. It burst open and device was hanging out of her chest.”

Nadia finally got someone to remove the device. But they left the infected wire leads in her body. The wire slid into a blood vessel and down into the heart. Her family desperately searched for someone to help Nadia but was told they would have to seek medical care in other countries where it would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Nadia’s husband, Moaiad Al-Juboori, explained, “We see her in pain, we didn’t know what to do.”

Then the family contacted the Ray Tye Medical Foundation, which helps provide medical care for people who can’t afford it.

It arranged to have surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital remove the infected wire and save Nadia’s life.

Nadia’s husband explains, “We can’t express how grateful after because of what we have seen in Baghdad.”

Dr. Epstein says, “This is really exciting, it’s always rewarding to know we made a difference in someone’s life.”

Eileen Tye of the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation says, “After seeing this family, it’s a heart- warming, wonderful experience.”

Nadia is still recovering but is expected to leave the hospital next week if all continues to go well.

Ironically, it turns out that Ray Tye, the man who founded this organization, actually had a similar infection and also had to have his defibrillator replaced at Brigham and Women’s last year.

You can read the story from the source here.

Lawrence Eagle Tribune – August 31, 2008
by Jill Harmacinski

Baby Frank Matos Lopez will undergo life-saving open-heart surgery this week thanks to a medical charity founded by Haverhill native D. Raymond Tye …

… Baby Frank, who lives in the Dominican Republic, suffers from a heart condition known as blue baby syndrome, which prevents oxygen from reaching organs and tissues, resulting in a bluish skin tint.
 

Read the full story here

 Here is the link to the CNN story about Safa, the child with the very large tumor.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/13/iraq.baby/