THE HEART-TO-HEART
CONNECTION
Hearts stand for love. Big hearts represent generosity.
Having a heart symbolizes compassion. But when the heart is unhealthy, none of
the above stands a chance.
“Save a Heart....Save a Life” is a project undertaken by
Rotary Bangalore Yelahanka. The aim of this project is to provide financial
support to perform paediatric heart surgeries.
We have so far helped 105 children since the starting of the
project. Our project partner is the “Needy Heart Foundation” which co-sponsors
the expenses towards surgery and executes the project.
Our project focus is on congenital heart diseases (CHD) in
children from poor families in the age group of zero to 10 years. Congenital
heart diseases refer to structural or functional heart defects, which are
present at birth. This is one of the most common birth defects in developing
countries and it is on the rise. The only treatment for this is surgery. Though
India can boast of modern cardiac facilities at internationally competitive
rates, it is out of reach of for the economically weaker sections of the
society.
Rotary Yelahanka sponsors the surgery of children after a
thorough examination by cardiac experts from well-known hospitals like Narayana
Hridayalaya, Manipal Hospital, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, Columbia Asia
etc.
What started as a small project a few years ago, when Rotary
Yelahanka was supporting 5 to7 surgeries, has now become a major project,
growing steadily since 2018. In 2019-20 we have been able to support over 65
paediatric heart surgeries with unstinted support from the corporates and our
dedicated partner, the Needy Heart Foundation. We are hopeful to organise many
more surgeries to help the needy children in the coming years too.
Rotary Yelahanka not only organises the surgery for children
but also visits the hospitals to meet the children and their parents. It is
soul-nourishing to see the recovering children with their smiling parents which
give immense satisfaction and inspiration for us to help more and more ill children
from poor families.
