The heart is a fist-sized organ that pumps blood throughout your body and the primary organ of your circulatory system. It is vital because it is said to be the most important part of our human body.
With the increasing number of children having heart diseases, the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo initiated its flagship project “Mend a Broken Heart” that provides free heart surgery.
This Rotary Year 2022-2023, under the leadership of President Marcos Jurquina, the RC Metro Iloilo’s project benefited 30 individuals.
The Rotary Global Grant #2236743, which is the joint project with Rotary Club of Jung Ulsan, District 3721 (South Korea), is worth $36,000. The club has partnered with the Western Visayas Medical Center, represented by Dr. Mae Dagooc, Dr. Leo Malunes and Dr. Joseph Dean Nicolo.
PDA is a congenital condition where the fetal blood vessel does not close soon after birth (as it normally should). As it remains open, there is an irregular transmission of blood between the aorta and the pulmonary artery resulting in persistent respiratory problems such as hypoxia or the deprivation of adequate oxygen supply.
For President Jurquina, the club’s flagship project has benefited many recipients throughout the years and if words can describe, it is like a manna from heaven.
“We have numerous testimonies that can testify how this project changed the lives of the patients. We have been fortunate that every year, there has been many who pledged to sponsor at least one kid. And it is this year that the RI approved our Global Grant project that benefited 30 recipients. I hope that this will be the start of an annual GG approved grant,” Jurquina shared.
Following the success of the free operations, Jurquina believes they can look for more funds to change more lives over the years.
“I asked the doctors in WVMC if how many more are lining up? There is a long list still waiting for their turn to have that “mend a broken heart” gift from us,” he disclosed.
Started during the term of Past President Ronnel Quiñon in 2006, the project has benefited hundreds of deserving individuals in Western Visayas.
For District 3850 Governor John Michael Ng, he said the project really has a great impact on the beneficiaries, considering that it’s costly and can claim lives if not prevented at a young age.
“Our Mend a Broken Heart Project is one of the best community initiatives in the country since it helped more or less 100 patients. Seeing the smiles on the face of the kids after recovering is very priceless. We are thankful to all our partners for making this possible. Rest assured that this will continue every year,” he added.
The impact of the project was effective, resulting in more patients asking for the same free operation. However, in 2010, the project temporarily stopped due to lack of funds. Seeing their growing list of children who needed immediate surgery, Past President Ray Celis and Rotarian Leo Malunes, who is a cardiovascular surgeon, revived the project through funds from Past District Governor Edgar Sy for two beneficiaries.
One of the patients, Alaiza Faith Lasaleta from Pandan, Lambunao, Iloilo thanked the two clubs for providing them free surgery. The 18-year-old was diagnosed for PDA when she was three months . But due to poverty, her parents could not afford to shell out the said P300,000 worth of operation at Philippine Heart Center in Manila. Her father is a laborer and her mother is a housewife.
Alaiza has been experiencing fast heart beat wherein it shows her thin body structure due to high metabolism since the heart exerts more pumping as compared to normal person. Her PDA is said to be at 7mm in size as per Dr. Dagooc. After the operation, she shared that her heart beats right now is normal. And she can live normally as other women like her should be.
The procedure to correct PDA is not cheap. A simple ligation ranges between P 200,000 to 300,000 per patient to cover hospital accommodation, cardiac cath lab, supplies, medicine, doctors’ fees, among others. A trans-catheter procedure would even cost more.
To recall, the club has also partnered with Medical City-Iloilo and with this collaboration, the pediatric cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and anesthesiologists rendered their services pro bono, thereby reducing the surgical procedure at an average of P50,000-P60,000 to cover other costs such as supplies and medicines. The cost may vary though depending on the complexity of the case.
To ensure the project’s continuity, RCMI looked for international partners and in 2012, Past President Philip Co, the Rotary Club of Palo Alto of District 5170 in California, USA responded to fund eight children for immediate surgery. Soon, donations from other individuals who were touched by the children’s condition poured in, and by the end of the year, eleven patients were treated.
That same year, RCMI’s efforts were recognized by the district and the club was named the Best Community Service Project.
In RY 2013-2014, RCMI tapped another international partner, the Rotary Club of Itako, of District 2820 in Japan. Together, the two clubs applied and were awarded a Matching Grant from Rotary International to accommodate the long list of beneficiaries whose lives were at stake unless they get operated on.
For this RY, with 30 successful operations, Dr. Malunes shared that they were happy to see the patients recovering from the disease.
“This is a very expensive operation and with this project, we help them live longer and become normal again. Imagine, you give them hope to live because we addressed it earlier. As a Rotarian, it’s a joy that you turned around the lives of individuals. That they will become normal because of the free operations,” he shared.
The heart is a fist-sized organ that pumps blood throughout your body and the primary organ of your circulatory system. It is said to be the most important part of our human body, the reason why the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo continues this noble project for they believe that mending a broken heart means adding a life to its beneficiaries. (Rtn. Elyrose S. Naorbe)
