Children Foundation working to save lives

– Trinidadian baby latest to receive assistance

By North American Correspondent

A Guyanese-led donor children foundation in Toronto has donated CN$25K towards the surgery of a Trinidadian infant to save the baby’s life. The donation is the latest by the Toronto Caribbean Children Foundation(TCCF) founded by Guyanese Jay Brijpaul to save medically challenged kids regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.

Brijpaul and the TCCF are well known in Canada for their mercy missions which have been helping children in need of life saving surgeries over the years. The organisation has been assisting children from the Caribbean to undergo life saving critical surgeries which are not available in their home country to be done at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto.

The cost for surgeries is subsidised by the Herbie Fund and the surgeons offer their services free to those who cannot afford to pay for same. So far, since its inception, TCCF has helped 54 children from all over the Caribbean to undergo surgery in Canada.

According to Brijpaul, the latest life saving act was a cardiac surgery conducted on 10-month old Nathaniel Thompson, a Trinidadian born baby, at The Hospital for Sick Kids (THSK). The infant underwent the 8-hour Atrial Switch and Ventricular Septal Defect Closure operation.

Brijpaul said the surgery was undertaken to see little Nathaniel through his travails. Financially, the application for help for the child was received from his parents in Trinidad in July of last year. It was immediately forwarded to The Hospital for Sick Kids (THSK) for consideration. Following a review by the Herbie Medical Review Committee, the case was approved and a date for surgery was set for December but was rescheduled for February. The surgery was successfully conducted last week.

Brijpaul said that TCCF committed the sum of CN $25,000 that partially covered the cost of the operation. He is appealing to the general public to support the fund-raising drives of the organisation to help realise their goal of helping to save lives.

A Valentine Dinner and Dance was held last weekend at the Empire Banquet Hall to raise funds for Nathaniel’s surgery. To make a donation, please contact Kumar Singh at 416-498-9962 or visit website: www.tccfangels.com