Alp Yıldırım
Alp's Story

Alp joined Watsi on July 13th, 2015. 11 other people also joined Watsi on that day! Alp's most recent donation traveled 6,300 miles to support Miloury, a baby girl from Haiti, for heart surgery.

Impact

Alp has funded healthcare for 9 patients in 5 countries.

Patients funded by Alp

Angel has a beautiful smile, when she decides to show it! She just celebrated her first birthday, as she was born on August 11th, 2015. Angel is able to sit on her own and likes playing with soft toys and being around other children. She is the second-born child in her family, and they live together in Tanzania. Angel was born without any problems and was developing normally. However, she contracted a severe fever when she turned five months old. She was admitted at a local hospital and subsequently treated. After her daughter's recovery, Angel's mother continued to care for her baby as usual. She began to notice that the size of Angel's head was slowly increasing. One day, she became extremely nervous when she realized that Angel's big sister's hat would not fit on Angel's head! She took her daughter back to the hospital. After a thorough examination, Angel was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain and exerts pressure. Angel received surgery to install a shunt-- a device that will drain fluid from the brain to another part of the body. This procedure will prevent further intracranial pressure, which could otherwise have affected her eyesight. Angel's mother is a self-employed tailor and her father is a small-scale farmer who primarily grows tomatoes. They have built their own two-bedroom mud house and are trying their best to care for their children. The $775 cost of Angel's surgery is just too high for them to afford. Let's help fund Angel's procedure, which includes a five day hospital stay and a two week stay at the Plaster House, a facility that houses and rehabilitates children who have undergone correctional surgeries. "I hope my baby will get well and continue to grow up like other children," says Angel's mother. "I'll be happy to see her walking."

$775raised
Fully funded

Jonalyn is a happy, 13-year-old student who loves to study and play a game similar to kick-the-can. She lives with her parents and two siblings in the Philippines, where their one-room house has a cement floor and a thatched roof made of nipa leaves. Jonalyn noticed a mass on the right side of neck when she was 12 years old. She told her mother about it, but they did not seek help since they did not have money to spend on medical consultations or medicine. After a few months, she complained of pain when swallowing and difficulty breathing and also noticed that the mass on her neck was getting bigger. She has been unable to concentrate during her classes because of the on-and-off throbbing pain in her neck. During a church activity in May of 2015, Jonalyn felt a throbbing pain in her neck and was examined by a doctor. She was diagnosed with a goiter—an enlarged thyroid gland usually caused by a deficiency of iodine, an important element in the production of thyroid hormones that regulate the body's metabolism. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic for seven days and iron supplements for 10 days and referred Jonalyn to another care facility to undergo tests to determine the type of goiter. Unfortunately, the family was unable to seek further care for Jonalyn until now. She was screened by a health trainer in one of our sponsored communities, consultation was facilitated, and she was advised to undergo a thyroidectomy to remove the thyroid gland. Jonalyn's mother is a housewife, and her father raises pigs. They cannot pay for surgery for Jonalyn because their income is barely enough to sustain the family's daily needs. $1,500 covers the cost of Jonalyn's surgery, transportation to and from the hospital, 10 days of hospital care—including medicine, imaging, and blood tests—and medicine to take after she goes home. The surgery will lessen Jonalyn's discomfort due to her condition. "I am very thankful to you for helping people like me in my condition, especially those who are not financially capable in terms of health treatment," shares Jonalyn. "I was truly blessed because I was given an opportunity to be treated. After the surgery, I plan to continue my schooling to reach my dreams and help my family someday."

$1,500raised
Fully funded