The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation

Doug’s story is best told by his heart surgeon who came to know him so well during his evaluation, hazardous surgery and recovery.

A MIRACLE WAITING TO HAPPEN

By Kenneth G. Warner, M.D.

kenneth G. Warner M.D.

When Doug Paquette was born thirty-nine years ago, he was diagnosed with an unusual congenital heart defect. Normally, the blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the arteries of the heart originate from the aorta, the major blood vessel that supplies oxygen to all the organs in the body. But in Doug’s case one of the major coronary arteries arose from the pulmonary artery that normally supplies blood to the lungs. As a consequence of this abnormal circulatory pattern, deoxygenated, or blue blood, was being delivered to the heart muscle. This lack of oxygen to the heart resulted in congestive heart failure at a very young age. Nowadays, babies diagnosed with this particular congenital heart anomaly undergo urgent open heart surgery to establish flow of pink, oxygenated blood to the heart. This is typically performed during the first six months of life, but when Doug was born the technology and surgical expertise to treat this condition had not yet been developed. Therefore, for many years, he was treated by his pediatricians and his pediatric cardiologists with medications and careful observation. (more…)

May, 2008

The story of Peter Oyuga came to our attention through Angels of Hope, a small non-profit organization that provides free basic healthcare to children in Uganda. This charity operates on a very small annual budget and when their Founder, Fay DeAvignon heard of Peter’s distressing case, she put all her personal effort into helping this small boy. Fay heard of The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation from a friend and applied to us for financial help. She told us she would use her own resources to sponsor the boy and his father during treatment and that she would offer them shelter in her own home in Natick, Massachusetts. The Foundation agreed to pay for the hospital and medical costs and the race to get Peter to the United States was on.

Several doctors in Uganda had diagnosed the child with bi-lateral retinoblastoma, cancerous tumors on both retinas, the tissue at the back of the eye. Not one of these doctors or clinics could offer Peter the care or surgery needed to cure the disease. Over time, the aggressive tumor in his right eye became extraocular, meaning that it extended beyond his eye and deformed his face. By this time, his left eye was developing a similar tumor. Peter’s parents, peasant farmers caring for a family of 10 other children, had done everything to find help for their 3-year-old son. Their meager resources were gone.

Fay DeAvignon found out quickly that the plan of action needed to bring the child and his father from Uganda to Boston was complicated. Passports, visas and transportation all needed to be painstakingly arranged. Time was slipping by and Peter’s disease was getting worse, taking a toll on his frail body. Dr. Aaron Fay at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary agreed to provide his evaluation and surgical services at no cost and Camille Condon of the Hospital’s International Program went all out to help Fay DeAvignon navigate the maze of government bureaucracy on both sides. The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation was firmly on board and it was clear that everyone was pulling together to give this little boy a chance to live. But several weeks went by before final arrangements were made and by then Peter seemed very close to death.

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.
(more…)