Even COVID-19 Can’t Stop Saving Haitian Children's Hearts
Samsung Medical Center and Oryun Community Church (Daniel Prayer Meeting) invited six children with heart disease, who were unable to receive treatment due to harsh living conditions, and their guardians from Haiti and treated them.
The six children that were born with congenital heart disease found it difficult to find treatment with local medical care. They needed to be treated quickly, but due to COVID-19, treatment was delayed and the children's health were deteriorating quickly. A local missionary in Haiti searched for hospitals to perform heart surgery on those children. However, they were having a difficult time finding a hospital that would offer help due to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Heart & Vascular Stroke Institute at Samsung Medical Center decided to operate on those children. The hospital invited them to Korea, paying for all expenses involved in travel and treatment for the children and their guardians.
Since 2013, Samsung Medical Center’s support for the operation of children with congenital heart disease in Haiti has been aided by medical staff from the Heart & Vascular Stroke Institute, including Prof. Jun, Tae Gook and Prof. Yang, Ji Hyuk, as well as Prof. Song, Jin Young, from the Department of Pediatrics.
On behalf of the children’s families that were treated, a patient's mother stated, "I would like to thank the medical staff of Samsung Medical Center and the many Koreans who supported us. The heart surgery you performed was a miracle, a success, and it's like a dream."