Compassion International Launches Appeal to Fund Heart Surgery for Child in Ghana

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Jan 31, 2018, 08:00 ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Jan. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Compassion International today launched its first ever GoFundMe campaign to help save the life of 6-year-old Mary (not her real name) in Ghana suffering from a rare heart condition – Patent Ductus Arteriosus, Ventricular Septal Defect (VCD) and Sub-aortic Membrane. The global child development ministry seeks to raise $15,000 toward its major medical fund that will help fund the girl's open heart surgery.

6-year-old Mary (not her real name), shown here with her mother Susana, needs open heart surgery. Compassion International is seeking $15,000 through GoFundMe to help fund the surgery.

Doctors discovered a hole in Mary's heart when she was 6 months of age. Her parents live in extreme poverty and could not afford the necessary bi-monthly visits for care. Mary has been on medication to manage her condition that continues to wreak havoc on her overall health and quality of life. She suffers from difficulty breathing and a loss of appetite, frequently becomes ill and has lost considerable weight since she was 3 years old. Children with heart defects like Mary, who also live in poverty, are extremely vulnerable and at risk for an early death.

"She was constantly losing weight, running a very high body temperature regularly, coughing seriously and profusely sweating all the time, and she had a lot of boils," said Mary's mother, Susana, of her daughter as an infant.

In May, Mary was registered into Compassion's Child Development program. She immediately began receiving additional support from Compassion for her medical needs. But surgery costs to repair Mary's heart are more than her family will likely earn in a lifetime. Mary will be Compassion's first beneficiary using the crowdfunding platform. Her family remains hopeful that Mary will soon be healed and able to enjoy a long, healthy and active life.

Compassion is seeking donations to cover the cost of Mary's surgery at GoFundMe. Last year, contributions to Compassion's major medical fund totaled more than $300,000, which provided over 40 life-saving medical procedures for children in poverty. In addition, more than $4 million was given to ongoing medical care that meets smaller routine medical needs of Compassion beneficiaries.

"It is my prayer that [Mary] will be healed of her ailment so that she will live and exhibit all her potentials for all to see the glory of God in her life," Susana said.

About Compassion International
Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 6,700 churches in 25 countries to deliver its holistic child development program to over 1.8 million babies, children and young adults. It is the only child sponsorship program to be validated through independent, empirical research. For more, visit compassion.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Becca Bishop, Compassion International
719-272-5109 or [email protected]

SOURCE Compassion International