Mey Ching comes from Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia. She lives with her parents - her father is a cook and her mother is a factory worker. She has a 15-year-old brother in grade seven and a 13-year-old sister in grade four. Mey Ching should be in second grade but is not currently in school because of her disability. She stays at home and likes to paint, watch TV and sit outside with her parents.
Since birth, Mey Ching has had a condition with both of her legs which have become increasingly bowing outward at her knees. She cannot walk far and is in pain when she does. This has prevented her from attending school and socializing with peers.
Mey Ching’s parents traveled eight hours to Children’s Surgical Centre for a diagnosis and treatment. Doctors have tentatively diagnosed her with a condition found in children that affects the growth plates around the knee. The disease causes the growth plate near the inside of the knee to either slow down or stop making new bone. She will need an operation to correct both of her bowing tibias. If not treated, it can lead to progressive deformities of her legs however surgical treatment will correct her bowed legs.
Mey Ching’s family needs help to pay for this $521 procedure at CSC to save their daughter from permanent disability.
Mey Ching’s mother said: “We are so worried that Mey Ching will never walk or attend school. We are hopeful that the doctors at CSC can fix her legs so she can go to school and play with friends.”
