Chen's Story

Chen joined Watsi on December 24th, 2015. Eight years ago, Chen joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Chen's most recent donation supported Marher, a playful toddler from Ethiopia, to heal his birth condition.

Impact

Chen has funded healthcare for 67 patients in 11 countries.

Patients funded by Chen

Paw is a 59-year-old woman who lives with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters in a refugee camp. In her free time, Paw like to feed her three chickens and sing gospel songs. She also loves looking after her granddaughters at home when their mother is teaching. On a late evening earlier this month, Paw was walking home in the rain when she slipped and fell on the muddy road. She accidentally hit her forehead against a tree stump and tried to break her fall by sticking out her right arm. Right after she fell, Paw experienced a sharp pain in her right arm and forehead. Her son and daughter-in-law brought her to the camp hospital, where Paw was given stitches for her forehead as well as pain medication, and her arm was put in a splint and a sling. The medic then referred her to another hospital, where she was finally admitted at two days later when a car became available to take her. At the hospital, Paw received a X-Ray and was told that her right wrist is broken and requires surgery. With her hand wrapped in a bandage, she was referred to our medical partner's care center, Chiang Mai Hospital, for further treatment. Currently, Paw cannot move her right wrist, not even to lift her hand. Without more pain medication, her hand and forearm experience severe pain with any movement, so Paw has to be careful to keep her right hand straight. Because of this, Paw cannot complete her daily chores nor look after her grandchildren. Fortunately, with the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, Paw will undergo surgery to reset her fractured bones and ensure proper healing. The procedure is scheduled for July 23rd and will cost $1,500. This surgery will help Paw move her hand around and resume her daily activities again with ease. “I want to get well soon so that I can go back to taking care of my grandchildren,” Paw said. “They are waiting for me at home to go back to my daily life. Now, I have to come for my treatment and there's nobody look after them. It is hard for my daughter in-law.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded

D is a 38-year-old man who lives by himself and used to wash cars in a mechanic's shop until his accident. Unfortunately, he had to quit his job because of his condition and he has had no income since. On April 2nd, his friends asked him to pick mangos. After climbing up the tree, the branch he was holding onto suddenly broke and he fell onto a rock. He broke his right lower leg in the fall. Unable to stand up by himself, his two friends supported him and arranged for his transportation to a local hospital. At the hospital, he received an x-ray and the doctor wrapped his lower leg in a bandage. He scheduled a follow-up appointment for the following week and went home. However, D did not go back to the hospital because he had no money. Two weeks later, he visited a local clinic because he was still in pain. He was referred to our medical partner's care center where an x-ray showed that he had broken both of the bones in his right lower leg and he was told that he would need surgery. Currently, he cannot walk and experiences pain in his lower right leg when he moves. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, D will undergo surgery to reset his fractured bones and ensure proper healing. The procedure is scheduled for May 23rd and will cost $1,500. This surgery will help D walk again and he will be able to find work after he has made a full recovery. D shared, "I lost my job after my leg was injured. I no longer have an income or a place to live. I do not have anyone I can depend on and I feel like I have no more hope living with this condition."

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Mu Hee is a 23-year-old woman from Thailand. She lives with her parents, older brother, sister in-law, three nephews and three nieces in a refugee camp. Mu Hee’s older brother is the sole income earner in their family. He works as a nurse in the camp’s hospital, which is run by International Rescue Committee (IRC). Mu Hee’s parents and her sister in-law look after the household chores. Mu Hee’s nieces and nephews are students and Mu Hee is a Bible school student. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020, she has been studying online in the refugee camp. Her teachers support her school fees and food. In her free time, Mu Hee likes to play with her nieces and nephews. She also loves to listen to music and sing. When Mu Hee was 14 years old, she began to experience severe abdominal pain. The first time it occurred, her father called a medic who lived close to their house, and the medic gave her an injection. She felt better after the injection, but continued to feel unwell every month. When she was 15, her father took her to the clinic in the camp to check whether Mu Hee had a serious illness in her abdomen, but the medic could not find any problem. Mu Hee's pain continued and she continued to receive treatment to help, but she did not think that her condition was serious because she had heard from her friends that some women experienced pain during the first day of their period. In early 2020, Mu Hee spoke about this condition with a staff member from a nearby clinic and with one of her teachers. Both urged her to get a check-up, and in February 2020, Mu Hee went to a clinic and a medic found a mass in her left ovary. Doctors have tried to treat her with medications for almost a year, but the mass has continued to grow. During a follow-up appointment in January 2021, the doctor told her that she would need surgery. Recently, Mu Hee has experienced pain in the left side of her lower abdomen almost every day. The pain is on and off and she feels most uncomfortable when running or walking, especially over long distances. She also experiences some pain as she does other basic daily tasks. Mu Hee sought treatment through our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund. She is now scheduled to undergo mass removal surgery, and she is requesting $1,500 to cover the total cost of her procedure and care. Mu Hee said, “The first time when I heard that I have a mass in my ovary, I felt very sad. I am also worried that the mass might be cancerous. I think about my condition very often, but my parents are very supportive, and they encourage me not to be afraid. I believe that I will no longer experience pain after surgery.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Ye lives with his wife and daughter on the Thai-Burma border. He used to work as a carpenter but had to stop working two years ago when his health deteriorated. His wife is a homemaker and his daughter works as a vendor selling mobile phones. Her monthly income of 10,000 baht (approx. 335 USD) is just enough to cover their family's daily needs. In the beginning of 2018, Ye started to experience swelling in his hands and feet, pain in his lower back, and difficulty passing urine. At first he thought that it was caused by overworking and would disappear over time. Six months later, when he still felt unwell, Ye finally decided to go see a doctor. He went to Mae Sot Hospital (MSH) where the doctor conducted tests and concluded that he had high blood pressure. The doctor also sent him to another hospital for an ultrasound because at that time the ultrasound machine was broken at MSH. When Ye returned to MSH with his ultrasound results, the doctor diagnosed him with stones in both of his kidneys. He was told to drink lots of water and was provided with oral medication. When Ye returned for his follow-up appointment, he received another ultrasound and more oral medication. As his condition went on, he received a catheter in both of his kidneys while admitted at the hospital. Ye kept returning regularly for his follow-up appointments. Up until 2020, he had the catheter replaced a number of times and also asked the doctor twice if he could receive surgery. However, both times the doctor told him that he would have to wait because there were too many patients on the waiting list. Eventually in the beginning of 2020, Ye was scheduled to receive surgery. When he was admitted in the middle of March 2020, he first received treatment for a urinary tract infection before he received surgery to remove the stone from his right kidney. After surgery, Ye had difficulty breathing and was placed in the intensive care unit for four days. By the time he was discharged, he was left with a 127,000 baht (approx. 4,233 USD) hospital bill. Ye paid what he could by selling all their jewelry and using up their saving. However, most of his bill was paid by borrowing money from his relatives in Burma. Before he was discharged, the doctor told him that he will need to receive laser treatment to breakup the stone in his left kidney. However, if the procedure was not successful he would need surgery to remove the stone. His daughter was no longer able to pay for his laser treatment so a nurse at MSH told him to ask for help at Mae Tao Clinic (MTC). When Ye went to the clinic and told the medic that they cannot afford to pay for his laser treatment, the medic referred him to Watsi's Medical Partner Burma Children Medical Fund for assistance accessing further treatment and we now are raising $1500 to support his care. “I am very depressed, and I feel stressed about my health condition. I have used up all my savings for my treatment. Now I have to rely on my daughter’s income and I feel really feel bad as she works hard," said Ye.

$1,500raised
Fully funded