Nong Wiwat, a Mon, 1.5 years old, is the only child of Master Moddam and his mother, Ms. Su. Both are Mon who came to work in Thailand. They used to work in a factory near Khlong Dan, Samut Prakan Province. They currently work as traditional masseuses in Bangkok, earning 180 baht per day, working from 10 am to 8 pm. Nong Wiwat was born at Bang Bo Hospital. At birth, his symptoms were normal. When he was 1 year and 4 months old, he started to feel tired and short of breath, so they took him to Bang Bo Hospital for a checkup. The doctor said he had a heart condition, so they sent him to Chulalongkorn Hospital for further treatment. However, each time he went for treatment, he had to pay no less than 1,500 baht. At first, the doctor made an appointment every 15 days, then once a month. When his symptoms improved, the doctor made an appointment for him to be checked every 3 months. The doctor said that he needed surgery. When he found out, his mother said she cried because she didn’t know where to get the money because the surgery would cost hundreds of thousands of baht. Her mother said that she was very lucky that Chulalongkorn Hospital sent Nong Wiwat to be a patient of the Children’s Heart Surgery Foundation. Nong Wiwat had surgery with the help of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Foundation. He had the surgery at Kasemrad Prachachuen Hospital on June 11, 2012.

His mother said that after the surgery, he felt less tired, ate more, and looked brighter and more cheerful than before.

His mother said that she felt very touched that her son had the surgery without any expenses. If it weren’t for the foundation’s help, she wouldn’t know where to find the money to pay for the surgery. She would like to thank the foundation and the donors who helped pay for Nong Wiwat’s surgery.