Arriving Saturday in Seattle: A Young Boy From Mongolia Flying in for Life-Saving Heart Surgery

Samaritan's Purse
Thursday, 10 January 2002

Local Community Teams Up with Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse to Give Children Medical Treatment Unavailable in Their Country

A two-year-old boy from Mongolia with a serious heart defect is not old enough to know the magnitude of the gift he will soon receive. What his family knows is that next month he will return to his homeland with a second chance to live a normal, healthy life.

Sukhbat Batbayar arrives in Seattle on Saturday, Jan. 12 with his mother and an interpreter, courtesy of Samaritan's Purse, the international relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. Swedish Medical Center in Seattle is providing the medical treatment free of charge.

Currently there is only one pediatric cardiologist in the entire country of Mongolia serving at a hospital with very limited resources and equipment. Over the past year, Samaritan's Purse has equipped this doctor with an echocardiogram machine and provided additional training to help children like Batbayar.

Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project identifies children with life-threatening heart disease in countries that lack technology and training, and matches them with surgeons and hospitals in the United States that are willing to donate their time and services. This is the first child Samaritan's Purse has sent to Seattle.

Samaritan's Purse handled travel logistics for the child, his mother, and an interpreter; paid all travel expenses; and arranged for Grace Baptist Church and a local family to host the child during his recovery period in the United States.

Since the program started in 1997 in response to a critical need in Bosnia, Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project has brought more than 150 children to the United States for life-saving heart treatment. In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse provides state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and training for doctors overseas. The machines enable doctors in those countries to better diagnose defects, identify candidates for surgery, and ensure that the children are matched with the proper specialists in the U.S.

For more information, or to contact Samaritan's Purse, see their website at: www.samaritanspurse.org