Help needed, not only financially
It was an auspicious start for all those out there who have been grappling with heart problems but did not have the money to meet the expenses of cardiac surgery. As the first day of the New Year welcomed amidst the crackers and the rejoicing, edged into morning, a team of doctors and nurses of the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital were not sleeping off the effects of a night of celebration.
Scrubbed up and masked, this dedicated team headed by Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Rajitha Y. de Silva was in the Operating Theatre performing keyhole cardiac surgery, the first under the Heart-to Heart Trust Fund.
Soon after this first surgery under the Trust Fund, Dr. de Silva appealed for the valuable help of people and the corporate sector to save lives by contributing whatever they can. Families can get-together and sponsor a surgery in memory of a loved one who is no more or a company can do so, he said. (See box)
In the wake of a detailed discussion
A gentle call goes out from the Heart-to-Heart Trust Fund not only for people to send in donations but also for volunteers to help with the paperwork and numerous other tasks linked to the project.
Sri Lankans are kind and generous, proof of which is found in the numerous occasions when they save animals from slaughter or give daana (alms). Through our project, people can save a human life, explains Dr. de Silva.
While Dr. Ekanayaka has pledged all the money from the sale of his books, the first operation under with eminent Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Ruvan Ekanayaka and the ready support of many other eminent personalities including doctors, then Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital Chairman, Nimal Bandara and President Maithripala Sirisena who was then Health Minister, came efforts in October last year to find sponsors for impoverished heart patients.
Explaining the dire straits in which patients find themselves, Dr. Ekanayaka who is the current President of the Sri Lanka Heart Association and has been a Cardiologist for 29 years said that emergen- the Trust Fund on Chandana who was also disabled with a leg issue, was a minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB)
Any generous donor may send cash or cheques to the Heart-to-Heart Trust Fund, Bank Account No. 76631276 at the Bank of Ceylon, Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital branch.
Others could dial their mobile service provider (Mobitel – 74710049, Dialog – 87567276, Etisalat – 3542765, Airtel – 8881930159 or Hutch – 356176091) to activate the ‘Pin Kala Aththo’ ring tone. cy surgery to save a patient’s life is restricted in the government sector.
“Facilities are insufficient to meet the demand, so there is a mismatch between demand and supply,” he said, adding that though there are charities like the President’s Fund which give some funding to such patients, there is still a shortfall in the amount of money needed.
This creates another problem. The concept of the Trust Fund is although we cannot help everyone, those we do , we will help fully so that they can undergo the surgery needed, he added.
It was 48-year-old D. Chandana de Silva from Panadura who was the first beneficiary of this fund.
Chandana’s heart troubles had begun two months before, with massive pressure being felt on his chest when he walked about 500 metres. He had to stop for about five minutes and catch his breath before he could walk again. A visit to a nearby hospital led to suspicions of gastritis but the medications did not work. In desperation, his brother then took him to a private hospital for a “dye test” (angiogram) which clearly indicated a block.
Chandana’s family was in a quandary. He was a driver, while his wife had no job and their three children were studying. What could they do – he needed a bypass operation. Such an operation would usually cost at least Rs. 350,000, with needy patients being able to secure up to Rs. 150,000 from the President’s Fund.
In Sri Lanka, cardiac surgery free of charge is performed in the state sector only at the National Hospital, the Kandy and Karapitiya Teaching Hospitals, and for children at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH). All these hospitals have waiting lists. The semi-state Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital performs these procedures at a cost. The private Northern Central Hospital in Jaffna performs heart operations free of charge under the Oxonian Heart Foundation run by Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Ravi Perumalpillai.
When Chandana approached Dr. Ekanayaka, things fell into place. For along with Dr. de Silva, it was Dr. Ekanayaka who had been set on launching the Heart-to Heart Trust Fund.
“Chandana was suitable to be the first to undergo surgery under the Trust Fund because he was the breadwinner and his family was facing much financial hardship,” said Dr. de Silva, adding that his Left Anterior Descending (LAD) branch of the left coronary artery was blocked.
The seed of the idea to launch the Trust Fund which would see to the heart needs of men, women and children had taken root in the mind of Dr. de Silva when he moved from the National Hospital to the semistate Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital in 2013.
While this young Heart Surgeon wellversed in keyhole cardiac surgery set about performing these non-invasive procedures there, something was niggling in his mind. He was not able to treat patients free of charge. He yearned to treat the needy. Even though many benefited from the President’s Fund, some were unable to meet the balance cost.
The Ahungalle Diamond Star Lions’ Club with the coordination of Indrajith de Silva has agreed to assist them while Indika Pradeep Appurala who has written the song, Ping Kala Aththo, sung by Victor Ratnayake and Nanda Malini has pledged his support by agreeing to give the tune as the ring-tone for mobiles due to the good offices of the Sister-in-Charge of Dr. de Silva’s ward, Champa Samarasingha.
The paperwork for the setting up of the Trest Fund followed with lawyers Murshid Mahroof and Nelun Senanayaka volunteering their help and an impressive list of Trustees coming on board.
With the Trustees, Dr. de Silva, Dr. Ekanayaka, well-known former diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, former Attorney General Palitha Fernando, eminent architect Milroy Perera, Legal Draftsman Aruna Shantha de Silva, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital Dr. Aruna Kapuruge, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon of the LRH Dr. Mahendra Moonasingha, Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital Director and Consultant Cardiac Anaesthetist Dr. Kanishka Indrarathna, Dr. Pillai and Mr. Bandara, the Trust Fund was launched in October last year.
The concept encompasses not only cardiac surgery at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital but also any private hospital on a ‘need basis’ following the same criteria set out by the President’s Fund to ensure fairplay and the poorest of the poor benefiting. “There will be thorough screening of the beneficiaries,” says Dr. de Silva.
And so it came to pass that Chandana became the flag-bearer of the Heart-toHeart Trust Fund on the auspicious first day of the year – January 1.
For the dreamer who is Dr. de Silva, the young Heart Surgeon, the vision is not only to help those in Sri Lanka but also to go beyond our borders extending a helping hand to those in Bhutan and Africa.