Miss Pornnicha Muangwong or Nong Piano, 3 years old, is the only child of Ms. Pawanrat Phanpuk, who works as a security guard and is the only one working because her father is in prison. Ms. Pawanrat said that Nong Piano was born at the SWU Ongkharak Hospital in Nakhon Nayok Province. The doctor informed her that Nong Piano had a heart septal defect since birth. She had to stay in the hospital for about 1 month because she had many complications. Her mother had to pump milk and send it to the hospital every day until her symptoms improved. The hospital then transferred her to the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health or Children’s Hospital since she was about 2 months old. After her symptoms improved, she was brought in for regular checkups. The doctor scheduled an appointment every 3 months. The cost of traveling from Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok to bring Nong Piano to the Children’s Hospital and her living expenses was quite high because her mother did not earn much and her grandmother who helped raise Nong Piano worked as a general laborer. She also had to sell pastries and do gardening to earn extra income. Since her mother’s income was barely enough to cover her expenses,

When Piano was about 3 years old, the hospital informed her that she had an appointment for surgery. She had to go to Rajavithi Hospital and the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Foundation would help with the expenses for the surgery. Her mother and grandmother discussed it and agreed that she would let her have the surgery, but she had to borrow money to cover travel expenses, food, and accommodation while she had to look after her sister who was undergoing the surgery at Rajavithi Hospital.

When the day of the surgery arrived, her mother was very worried about what would happen to her. However, she thought that if the surgery made her recover, she would be able to grow up and live like a normal child.

After Piano left the surgery room, she had to stay in the ICU for only 3 days. When her symptoms improved, she was released to the heart surgery ward for another 4 days before she could return home to continue her treatment. Now, Piano can run around and play with her friends, and she hopes that she will grow up to have a good future.

Taking care of the younger siblings is high. The oldest child is still studying. The youngest child is still young. Sometimes if we blend powdered milk to make food for Nong Petch, the youngest child will have to go hungry. If we blend milk for the youngest child, that day Nong Petch’s blended food did not have powdered milk as an ingredient. But Mom said that no matter what, she would fight and not abandon Nong Petch. She would take care of Nong Petch as best as she could.