Zak's Story

Zak joined Watsi on July 27th, 2015. Eight years ago, Zak joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Zak's most recent donation traveled 1,900 miles to support Peterson, a young man with a heart defect from Haiti, to fund prep and travel costs for heart surgery to fix a hole in his heart.

Impact

Zak has funded healthcare for 94 patients in 12 countries.

Patients funded by Zak

Ly Hor is a 13-year-old curious student. He comes from Tboung Khmum province in the central lowlands of the Mekong river. He has two sisters - his older sister is 19 and is a factory worker, and his younger sister is six and studies in grade one. His parents are farmers and grow rainy-day rice and vegetables. Ly Hor attends grade 7 in public school. His favorite subjects are math and physical education. In the future, he would like to be a doctor. At home, he enjoys playing football, reading books, doing homework with friends, and helping his family with the vegetable gardens. He loves it when his mom makes fried rice or fried noodles, which he enjoys eating with fresh milk. In October, Ly Hor injured his right elbow when playing football by stretching out his hand to break a fall. His mother took him to a Khmer traditional healer because she could not afford the care at a government hospital. He has chronic pain, and his elbow has become swollen and deformed. He is unable to use his hand due to swelling and pain. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, can help. On December 7th, Ly Hor will undergo a fracture repair procedure, which will cost $483. This procedure will repair the fracture, and Ly Hor will be able to use his arm again. Ly Hor's mother said: "He is very sad now because he cannot do anything with his friends. I hope the doctors can fix his arm so he won't be in pain, and he can be active again with his friends in school."

$483raised
Fully funded

Loy is a 46-year-old small scale farmer and a strong mother to her five children who range from the ages of 21 to 11 years old. Due to difficult finances and lack of resources, all of Loy's children have received a partial primary school education at various levels. Loy and her husband earn their income by farming, and their family lives together in a four-room mud house for shelter. Four months ago, Loy began experiencing severe lower abdominal pains that have caused her many sleepless nights. She believes that her uterus is very weak because she had a number of complicated deliveries when she gave birth to her children. She visited a doctor in March and was given temporary medication to help ease the pain and discomfort. Months later, she can now no longer sleep comfortably, and has had to completely stop farming due to the pain. Loy has been diagnosed with chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and needs to undergo a hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus, in order to treat her condition. Fortunately, on May 13th, Loy will undergo gynecological surgery at our medical partner's care center, Rushoroza Hospital. Once recovered, Loy will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain and continue on with her farming in order to take care of her family. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $319 to help fund this surgery. Loy says, “I can no longer practice farming in my current condition and my family depends on farming. I hope to get well through surgery so that I may be able once again take better care of my family.”

$319raised
Fully funded