Rotary News Basket * 774 4 September 2002

Good News > číslo 06/2002 > Rotary News Basket * 774 4 September 2002

Kazakh boy owes life to D-6560 project Sasha Zaitsev, a 9-year-old boy from Kazakhstan, suffered from a rare and serious condition called Fallout's Tetralogy, a congenital disorder involving four heart defects. An orphan, he had no access to medical facilities that could perform the complicated procedure in order to treat his life-threatening condition. News of Sasha's urgent need reached the District 6560 Gift of Life project, and as a result, the boy underwent lifesaving surgery at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, last month. Since District 6560 began its Gift of Life project in 1998, more than 25 children have had surgery at Riley and another state-of-the-art facility, the Children's Heart Center at St. Vincent's Children's Hospital of Indiana. The project has saved the lives of needy children with life-threatening heart conditions from Russia, the Philippines, Kuwait, Nigeria, Honduras, China, Pakistan, Zambia, Bosnia, Honduras, and now Kazakhstan. Riley offers discounts for international patients but cannot afford to do the operations for free, so the district pays US$5,000 for each Gift of Life child sponsored. "We have the funds to provide at least 10 children with the 'Gift of Life' this Rotary year," says Bing Pratt of the Rotary Club of Zionsville and the D-6560 Gift of Life chairman. To raise money, the Rotary clubs of Greenfield and Greenfield Sunrise sponsor a dinner and auction each February, bringing in more than $20,000 a year. The Rotary Club of Richmond holds an annual pancake breakfast that raises about $5,000 annually. The Rotary clubs of Fishers, Carmel, Avon, and Zionsville have also made major gifts towards the cause. "The most enjoyable part of this project is to see the kids after surgery," says Pratt, who is a retired pediatric radiologist. "We have taken kids to the zoo, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and to visit Rotary clubs, PETS meetings and district conferences. To see them run and smile only a few days or weeks post-operation is a joy." After he recuperates from surgery, Sasha will be staying with the family of a local doctor in Zionsville, Pratt says. The first Gift of Life was made by Rotarians from Manhasset, District 7250 of New York, in 1975 and soon evolved into a district-level program. Since then, numerous Rotary districts, mostly in the United States, have started their own Gift of Life efforts, modeled on the original one.