On Tuesday the 8th March 2011 after being asked for help CHOICE visited an extremely devastated family on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
CHOICE was contacted by Bill Jones from the US and a friend of his Samnang who works for Phnom Penh Post. We agreed to help so Samnang took us to meet the family of four, Sokha her son Channy, her brother Savuth and his wife Somali. A friend allows them to live in a little hut along with the chickens. Channy, a 16yo. has had to stop going to High School, to mind his Uncle and Mother. She fell off the back of a truck in January and suffered spinal damage. She has lost the use of the right hand side of her body and cannot sit, she has to lie down continually, her condition may be curable with an operation. Channy also looks after his Uncle Savuth now that his Mother cannot, the Uncle appears to have Leprosy and has lost most of his fingers and toes, he cannot walk. Somali is the only one who can work and she earns US$55 per month at a clothing factory, this does not provide enough for all their needs.
We need caring people to perhaps part sponsor or get a group together to help this family on a day to day basis as well as finance treatment for Sokha, it appears the condition of Savuth has gone too far though he needs treatment for pain.
Friends – International Cambodia, were also contacted and are going to help the family. They have agreed to supply food and rice and depending on the recovery of Sokha, may be able to help 16yo. Channy with his education.
UPDATE: Friends have helped the family a little, most of their support is from CHOICE and our supporters. We now have the Schoonen family sponsoring the family.
CHOICE desperately need financial help to cover all the medical costs, ALL DONATIONS WILL BE USED FOR THE MEDICAL COSTS.
UPDATE: On Monday the 14th March CHOICE contacted the CEO of the Children’s Surgical Centre, Dr. Jim Gollogly. He organized an Ambulance to take Sokha to the Children’s Surgical Centre. On Tuesday she was transferred to Calumet Hospital for X Rays and CAT Scans then back to C.S.C. The X Rays have shown that Sokha had a broken neck in two places and damaged spinal cord.
An operation was performed at C.S.C. on Wednesday 16th March. Sokha is no longer in pain, now we all wait to see the results. This may take many weeks and there will need to be extensive physiotherapy for her to gain improvement, CHOICE may provide a nurse to help with her physio and rehabilitation. Her son Channy remains at her bedside. Many thanks to Dr. Jim Gollogly and the staff of C.S.C. for this.
CHOICE volunteers transported Savuth on Friday the 18th of March to the Leprosy Hospital for assessment; his condition is serious and he will need at least two operations and a lot of treatment after that.
UPDATE: On 28th March, Sokha and her son have returned back to what they call home. The good news is that Sokha can now sit to an angle of 45 degrees and most likely will gain more movement with time and exercise, we have managed to get her a wheelchair in anticipation that one day she can use it. The sad news is that only 4 people have offered to help with the medical costs. That includes myself one of the persons involved in drawing attention to this family crisis, and two of our friends. Every dollar counts PLEASE help us to help them by donating via our website. This money is not for CHOICE but will be passed on to the Children’s Surgical Center so as they too can continue to help the very poor Cambodian adults and children who are either sick, injured or suffering from such things as acid attacks. We thank C.S.C. and staff so much for their help and support with Sokha and her family.
Savuth is still too scared to agree to have the operations to improve his condition.
