Lodi native works to get heart surgery for Vietnamese kids

After fighting in Vietnam as a young man in 1968, Lodi native Mel Potter returned in 1998 to serve the country he once fought through charity work aimed at helping children with congenital heart failure get access to medical care.

Potter has lived in Danang, Vietnam since 2017, but began volunteering in remote villages in Vietnam in 2002. He started volunteering with the East Meets West Foundation, where he helped acquire a trailer to perform dental screenings and services to children who could not afford the care.

Potter has helped raise funds for programs in Vietnam from donors at the Lockeford Seventh-day Adventist Church, where his parents are parishioners

Since September of 2018, Potter has started work with an organization called Heartbeat Vietnam. The group helps children with congenital heart defects get access to medical care and staff who can perform procedures needed to save their lives.

“In Vietnam, the type of healthcare you receive is indicative of how much money you can spend on it. So for people that cannot afford healthcare, when they get sick they just have to endure the illness until they die,” Potter said.

Many children that Heartbeat Vietnam serve have rare heart defects caused by exposure to Agent Orange.

During the Vietnam War, Agent Orange was an herbicide used by the United States Army from 1961 to 1971 to deplete the plant life and agricultural ecosystem, so enemy soldiers could not camouflage themselves or hide.

The toxic chemicals expelled during the war have caused long-lasting effects in the soil and has poisoned the plant life that has regrown in regions.

Potter, who searches the highlands of Vietnam for people with heart conditions, stated that the Vietnamese government has only recently allowed organizations into the highlands. In the past, medical groups had been barred from the region.

“The government of Vietnam holds a grudge against the people in the highlands because they helped American soldiers during the war,” Potter said.

People living in the highlands come from hundreds of villages and speak different dialects of Vietnamese, according to Potter. Since many of them are part of an agrarian society, they do not have money to get medical care, which is why he focuses on them.

“We give the people in remote villages health check-ups, and we test their hearts for abnormalities. If any are recorded, I connect the villagers to people that help facilitate medical arrangements for them,” Potter said.

The organization that Potter works with relies on donations to fund surgeries for the people they help. One surgery costs $1,200, Potter stated. He has been helping educate people about the organization in order to raise funds for people who need to get these crucial procedures done.

The Lockeford church has helped Potter collect donations and work with Potter as he continues his charitable projects abroad.