WCTF Costa Rica Center
On
November 7, 1999, four-and-a-half-year-old Luis received part of a
lobe of his father's liver in a twelve-hour transplant operation
that saved his life. He is now a healthy, active child. Without the
surgery, he would have died within a matter of months.
Luis' transplant took place at the National
Children's Hospital in San José, Costa Rica, and was arranged by the
World Children's Transplant Fund's Costa Rica center, the "Fundación
Mundial de Trasplantes para Niños." WCTF did not pay for Luis'
transplant--yet, had it not been for WCTF, his surgery would not
have been possible. What did WCTF do?
In 1989, Mark Kroeker met with Costa Rican
government officials and interested citizens to discuss the
establishment of a pediatric organ transplantation facility in their
country.
WCTF subsequently provided the seed money to fund this effort. We
helped get legislation passed so that organ donation and
transplantation would be fully legal there. In 1990, we opened an
office in San José and began the process of cultivating
relationships in the local medical and business communities. We
raised more money here in the U.S., facilitated donations of medical
equipment and pharmaceuticals, and arranged for specialized training
for Costa Rican doctors and nurses.
Several years later, a "Veronica House" was built
to house the children and their families during pre- and
post-operative care.
Today, an educational display at the Costa Rica
Children's Museum helps educate the public about the crucial
importance of organ donation.
Prior to WCTF's involvement in Costa Rica, a
limited number of pediatric kidney and bone marrow transplants were
being done, but there had been no pediatric heart or liver
transplants. Now, all types of transplants are being performed, with
a very high degree of success.
The lion's share of credit for this dramatic
improvement in medical services goes to an amazing woman named
Elizabeth Rojas, whom WCTF hired to direct the operation. Our Costa
Rican "Angel," through her passionate dedication and very hard work,
carried out WCTF's "Three T" mission objectives to make pediatric
organ transplantation a reality in Costa Rica and elsewhere in
Central America.
For some time now, the Fundación Mundial de
Trasplantes para Niños has been essentially a self-sustaining
entity, receiving only occasional grants from WCTF for special
projects.
Luis' and another child's surgeries were performed
by Dr. Koichi Tanaka from Japan. These were the first
"living-related-donor" liver transplants ever performed in Central
America. Dr. Tanaka, whose participation was facilitated by a member
of WCTF's medical advisory board, was supported by members of his
Japanese team as well as medical personnel at the Hospital Nacional
de Niños.
The Costa Rican team received invaluable training
as part of this process. Dr. Tanaka returned in March of 2000 to
perform three more such surgeries--and as this mailing goes to
press, he is preparing for a third trip to Costa Rica on December
26, 2000, to perform more transplants and provide additional
training. Dr. Tanaka has stated that after this upcoming trip, he
thinks the Costa Rican team will be ready to "fly solo" on
living-related-donor transplants.
For approximately the same amount of money WCTF
has invested in our Costa Rican operation since its inception, we
could have brought only one or two children to the United States and
paid for them to be transplanted here. Instead, more than 100
children in Central America who otherwise would have died are alive
and healthy today. We think that's a great return on our investment.
We hope you agree, and that you find WCTF's mission and success
worthy of your own investment and support.
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