• Category

  • Content Type

Advertisement

Jamaican Community Donates $700,000 Towards Cardiac Surgeries

November 5, 2003

The Full Story

Just under $700,000 has been donated by Jamaican community organizations in the United Kingdom (UK), to assist with cardiac surgeries for children at the Bustamante Hospital.The donations were presented to the UK-based Chain of Hope medical charity today (November 5), at a reception organised by the Jamaican High Commission in London.
The charity will be making its fifth visit to Jamaica, beginning on November 11, and members will perform cardiac surgeries on 15 children, to help clear the backlog of children needing this vital treatment.
This is the second time that the Jamaican community in the UK is assisting Chain of Hope with its medical mission to Jamaica.
Dr. Rosemary Radley-Smith, who represented the charity’s founder, internationally renowned cardiac surgeon, Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, said that Jamaica was the only country in which Chain of Hope operated, which provided assistance for its mission. She said the support of the Jamaican community was overwhelming.
“We are extremely grateful for the money to support this trip. It is a fantastic effort,” Dr. Radley-Smith said.
She pointed out that in addition to the surgeries, the aim of the Chain of Hope visit was to help build the capacity of the paediatric cardiac team in Jamaica to deal with complicated heart surgeries for children.
The 20-member team, which will be headed by Professor Yacoub, will include two surgeons and several intensive care doctors and nurses.
High Commissioner, Her Excellency Maxine Roberts thanked members of the community for their continued support of Jamaica, and expressed gratitude to the Chain of Hope for the vital service the members were providing for Jamaican children.
Chain of Hope was formed more than 10 years ago in Paris, France. In 1995 it was expanded to the UK as a registered charity under the initiative of Professor Yacoub. The name refers to the chain of volunteers needed to provide the diagnosis, treatment and cardiac surgery that go into its medical mission.

Last Updated: November 5, 2003

Skip to content