Making a Difference

the note that i tried to share on facebook but failed, dunno why. latest update is that my friends have managed to get some media attention on it so it'll prob hit the papers soon. but anyway:

A Matter of Life and Death
10:44pm Friday, Apr 4
I don't often write Facebook notes, so that when I do write you know that there's something biting away at the edges of my heart. Tonight there's something, and tonight I write. So urgent, in fact, that I write at 1.30am in the morning on a sleepy Friday night.
___________________________________________________________


I, Jean Loo, personally guarantee you that the following story is true.

What story? The story of a little boy named Bui Duc Minh, the son of two teachers. Here's an email I received from a dear friend Tuyet.

Dear Jean,
How are you going? It's been a while since the last time we met. I graduated from UNSW and came home and pretty much settled down with a job at HCMC Department of natural resources and environment.

I recently received an email from a friend to call for help. He has a three year old kid who was recently diagnosed with some kind of blood cancer. The boy has been brought to Singapore and is currently under treatment at NUH (Singapore). The doctors there say there is a way to save him however my friend cann't afford the bill. His condition is summarised as followed:

He was discovered anaemic from October 2007 and this prolonged until the next 4 months, to the end of February 2008. During this time, National Pediatrics Hospital carried out all test and results are normal condition, no exact reason for anaemic was found. By early of March 2008, Minh (the boy's name) had a long fever and was treated at National Pediatrics Hospital. After testing, results showed that he had M1 acute myelogenous leukemia. Doctors at National Pediatrics Hospital said that Viet Nam can not treat such disease so the best way to save his life is to go to Singapore for treatment. Our family determined to learn about the way and expenses related to the trip to Singapore for his treatment.

At NUH (National University Hospital), our son was under pressing treatment. He stayed at special room in 5 days for overcoming critical time. After one week of treatment and undergoing all necessary tests, the results showed that he had M1 acute myelogenous leukemia (AML for non-Downs and non AML M3 patients).

After two week treatment in Singapore and with a certain result, the patient has been recovering a little. But this is only the preparation period, with the effort to recover the patient health for the next official treatment. The patient health situation is getting better, and the treatment will be treatment by valency.

There are officially two ways of treatment
1. bone marrow transplant, with total cost 300.000$
2. treatment by valency, with total cost 220.000$.
Both can lead to the successful results and can cure the patient completely in Singapore.

My friend and his wife are both teachers with salary of about 2 million VND/month (about 200SGD/month). With current condition in Vietnam, it's hard to live with that income, let alone saving money for emergency like this situation. He has mobilised money from friends and family. He also sold his appartment for 400-500 mil VND (about 50,000SGD). He needs about 2 billion VND more (about 200,000SGD) to completely cure the boy.

I am writing to seek for your help. As you have been working for World Vision for a while, you might have connnections with some organisations or charity fund who can provide financial assistant for my friend. I am seeking help everywhere. I would greatly appreciate it if you could come back to me with some information. Every cent counts to save the boy. Every second counts too since my friend only have limited time (within 3 weeks) to have sufficient amount for his son's treatment. The boy is only 3 years old and he will have a long long future ahead. I hope you can help him. If you need medical document regarding his condition, please tell me.

Best regards,
Tuyet
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If you are anything like me, you might have read that and wanted to dismiss it. Internet skeptism has marred my sensitivity for human need; too many scams around and this sounds like one more. But then, the source it came from... My dear friend from uni - Tuyet - who did World Vision stuff with me throughout our early days at uni.

After a couple of emails back and forth, I decided to contact Singapore's National University Hospital myself. The International Patient Liaison Centre replied, confirming that little Minh was indeed still in the hospital. Not only that, the hospital themselves wrote that the father of the child was trying to raise the amount for little Minh's Bone Marrow Transplant: SGD $250,000.

SGD $250,000. In Australia, $197,767.45. But in Vietnamese Dong? A figure so staggering it could barely fit on my conversion calculator: 2,945,470,800.

SGD $250,000. Is that the cost of a life? I blink away tears.

--

EMAIL from NUH PART 1:

Dear Jean Loo,

It was a pleasant experience talking to you just now. Further to our tele-conversation, understand that from Australia, it will be difficult for you to do the money transfer from bank to bank. Alternatively, as discussed, you can do a telegraphic transfer directly to hospital account under patient's name. I am hoping it will be more convenient for you since this is Citibank. Here is the details:

National University Hospital
Telegraphic Transfer Details

Bank Name : Citibank Singapore
Account Name: National University Hospital (S) Pte Ltd
Account No: 0-820551 028
Bank Code: 7214
Branch Code: 001
Swift Code: CITISGSG

Remark: Please indicate the patient’s name (BUI DUC MINH - Hospital Registration Number HRN X3141318D) for this telegraphic transfer.

--

updated info from minh's father's camp:

"The first-stage treatment has shown good progress. Minh is now temporarily out of the critical condition. Doctors at the Singapore National University Hospital are now testing his blood to find the marrow that best fits his body. As soon as Minh’s physical health becomes sufficiently good, the transplant will be conducted.

Regarding financial issue, Minh’s parents have asked for help from many sources and over 500 people have donated money to help saving the child. Total amount of donation that they received so far is USD8,000. My friends have sold their apartment and raised about USD100,000. That’s all they could do, and now they still need approximately USD100,000 more. The Hospital allows them 2 weeks to raise this amount. Hopefully, we can find some ways to help them within this period.

Once again, thank you and your friends for you invaluable help. Let me know if you need any more information."