Critically Ill Teens Arrive in Indianapolis for Life-Saving Heart Surgery, June 24

Samaritan's Purse
Monday, 23 June 2003

St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and Franklin Graham Team Up to Give Mongolian Teenagers a Second Chance at Life

Samaritan's Purse, an international relief organization headed by Franklin Graham, brings two Mongolian teenagers with congenital heart defects to Indianapolis for life-saving heart surgery.

After traveling thousands of miles from their homeland, Dashtseren Turmunkh, age 14, and Munkhbaatar Chika, age 15, arrive in Indianapolis for heart surgery at the Children's Heart Center at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital courtesy of Samaritan's Purse, the international relief organization headed by Franklin Graham.

Samaritan's Purse has also arranged for the boys, Dashtseren's guardian, Munkhbaatar's mother, and an interpreter to be hosted by a local Indianapolis family and volunteers from College Park Baptist Church during their five-week stay.

Munkhbaatar Chika is the 200th child that Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project has brought to the United States and Canada for critical heart care since 1997. Samaritan's Purse works with more than 45 hospitals to bring children from countries including Uganda, Mongolia, and Kosovo. The Children's Heart Center at St.Vincent has offered life-saving heart surgery to more than 20 Samaritan's Purse Children Heart Project kids since February 2000—more than any other hospital in North America.

Samaritan's Purse identifies children with life-threatening heart defects in countries that lack technology and training, matching them with hospitals and surgeons in the United States and Canada who are willing to donate their time and services.

While the international relief organization is transporting critically ill children to the United States and Canada for care, Samaritan's Purse is also providing doctors and hospitals overseas with the equipment and training needed to diagnose heart defects and effectively treat sick children in their own countries.

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