Lasse's Story

Lasse joined Watsi on September 19th, 2013. Eight years ago, Lasse joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Lasse's most recent donation traveled 5,100 miles to support Sokkea, a construction worker and dad from Cambodia, to fund mastoidectomy surgery to restore his hearing.

Impact

Lasse has funded healthcare for 120 patients in 14 countries.

patients you have funded

Seint, who is 34 years old, lives with her parents and her aunt in Ayeyarwaddy Division in Burma. Her parents and her aunt make and sell mats from their home. When Seint was 13-years old, she noticed she started to easily tire, experienced heart palpitations, and had barely enough energy to play with her friends. Her mother took her to a nearby clinic, where the doctor examined her and told them that she had congenital heart disease. The doctor gave Seint medication, which she used together with traditional medicine. Both helped her to feel better. In November 2022, Seint felt extremely tired and experienced heart palpitations while she was completing physical exercises with her students. She also had difficulty breathing, and her vision became blurred. Her mother took her to a clinic, where she received medications which helped her to feel better. A few days later, however, she started to experience pain in her back whenever she felt tired. She also started to have difficulty breathing again, and had heart palpitations. Her mother brought her to a hospital in Yangon, where she received an echocardiogram that allowed the doctor to diagnose her with atrial septal defect. After additional testing, the doctor scheduled her to undergo urgent heart surgery at Pun Hlaing Hospital. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is seeking $1,500 to fund Seint's surgery, which will allow her to regain her health, and to live symptom free. Seint said: "I would like to recover as soon as possible. In the future, I will continue to work as a teacher. I love teaching students and wearing our school uniform proudly."

$792raised
$708to go

Oo is a 52-year-old man from Burma, living with his wife and daughter. Oo's wife is a day laborer, while his daughter works as a salesperson in a store. Oo is unemployed because of health issues, but he enjoys growing vegetables, and guarding the entrance gate of the village. In the midst of the rainy season in July, Oo placed his belongings on a friend's bullock cart, and went to climb on top of the cart to ride. As he was preparing to climb onto the cart, it suddenly jerked forward, throwing Oo to the ground, and injuring his right arm. After a week had gone by, Oo, who was experiencing significant pain in his arm, traveled to a local free clinic, where he was given a shot to ease the discomfort. He was told that he would need to have the injury investigated further at a hospital in Yangon. In October, Oo's arm was X-rayed at the Karen Baptist Convention Hospital in Yangon, and it was determined that the bone in his arm had been broken, and had never healed properly. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, Oo will undergo surgery to reset his fractured bones on October 25th, at Karen Baptist Convention Hospital. This surgery will promote the complete and correct healing of the fracture, enabling Oo to lift his arm without pain, and to return to work. Oo needs your help to raise the $885 for this procedure. Oo said: “I am very worried that the doctor will not be able to treat me because I sought treatment so late. It is so difficult to go to Yangon because I live in a conflict area and there are a lot of travel restrictions."

$885raised
Fully funded

Heng is a 16-year-old student from Cambodia in the 11th grade. His father is a roof builder and his mother stays at home. He has two older sisters who live at home, but have finished school and work outside of the home. In his free time, Heng enjoys reading books, exercising, fishing, and listening to music. At school, he likes math and would like to go into Information Technology. In June 2022, Heng was in a motorcycle collision where he fractured his right shoulder, femur, and hand, as well as both clavicles and several facial bones. His family took him to a local government hospital for surgery, but five months later, he still cannot move his right shoulder, elbow, wrist, or fingers. He has been diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury on his right side. The brachial plexus is a nerve network that transmits signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Injuries to this nerve network can result in loss of function and sensation. Heng has difficulty with daily tasks, feels poorly, and has stopped going to school due to his injury. Fortunately, our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), is helping Heng receive treatment. He traveled to CSC's care center, the only center in Cambodia where the required treatment is available. On November 14th, he will undergo a brachial plexus repair surgery. After recovery, he hopes to move his shoulder and use his hand. Now, he needs help raising $709 to fund his procedure and care. Heng's mother shared, "we hope Heng will recover and use his shoulder and arm again after surgery."

$709raised
Fully funded