Floating Doctors
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MISSION

Floating Doctors is a seafaring medical group that provides health care for people in remote coastal regions of the world.

Led by CNN Hero Dr. Benjamin LaBrot, Floating Doctors serves communities that often fall through the cracks because they’re too small, too far away, or too hard for traditional medical organizations to reach. Floating Doctors has treated more than 10,000 patients in the last two years, and is doing groundbreaking work in mobile imaging, public health research, medical supply distribution, professional training, and health education.

Floating Doctors has been featured on CNN, Discovery Channel, and LA Times for its outstanding work. Learn more about Floating Doctors or follow their ship around the world on their website.

IMPACT
9
Patients
1
Countries
86
Donors
Patients at Floating Doctors

Clari is a 32-year-old mother of two from a remote village in the jungles of Panama. She lives with her family in a humble wooden hut on the top of a tall, steep hill, spending her days running the family cacao farm, and raising her two children. Clari lives with failure of the two mitral valves in her heart. She is now experiencing heart failure from rheumatic fever and doctors have been managing her condition for almost four years. "Right now she sleeps poorly, is always out of breath, and has chest pain very frequently. Also her legs and stomach often swell up with fluid," explains our medical partner, Floating Doctors (FD). "She lives under the ongoing worry that she will have a major heart failure and die in her remote mountain community." This does not stop Clari from leaving her home each day to sell cacao to support her family. “She has shown incredible courage and responsibility,” FD says. For $1493, we can fund a mitral valve repair for Clari. This life-changing and life-saving operation will repair both of Clari’s mitral valves, potentially eliminating the need for medication and drastically increasing the quality of her life. While FD will cover the cost of food and travel to a hospital capable of carrying out this operation, we will cover the cost of her actual surgery, including the echocardiogram and heart bypass needed for a successful surgery. After this operation, Clari will be able to breathe easily again. She dreams of having another baby, watching her children grow up and a new chance at life without the burdens of her condition.

$1,493raised
Fully funded

Meet Favian, a six-year-old young boy from a small village in Panama. “Favian was born with a small tube connecting his tear ducts to the outside of his nose, so tears or pus leak out of his skin onto his face all day,” explains our medical partner, Floating Doctors. “Sometimes the tube gets infected and blocked up, giving him conjunctivitis.” “Favian is a very quiet and introverted little boy and usually stays right next to his dad,” shares Floating Doctors. “Favian loves to color and can work for hours with a pack of crayons and coloring book.” Medical care in the remote indigenous village Favian lives in can be difficult to access. "The villagers are subsistence farmers with very little income, and everyone in the community lives well below the poverty line. A one-way journey to the nearest small clinic is about 5 hours walking in good weather, with three river crossings," explains Floating Doctors. $1,070 will fund Favian’s nasal fistula repair which will cure the fistula and prevent further infections. Favian will be able to see without discomfort and pain. Let's help make it happen!

$1,068raised
Fully funded

Meet Roxana, an eight-year-old girl from Panama who has pulmonary stenosis. According to our medical partner, Floating Doctors (FD), “Roxana’s pulmonary stenosis means that it is hard for her heart to pump blood to her lungs. If she is untreated before she starts to become a teenager, her larger body will start to demand more blood and her heart will not be able to keep up with the supply." Roxana, who lives in a small remote island with her mom, dad, and younger siblings, “loves soccer – she plays until she has to rest and catch her breath, then goes back to playing,” shares FD. $1405 covers the cost of an angiographic pulmonary stenosis repair for Roxana. This treatment “should allow Roxana to run and play normally with the other children and to not have chest pain and gasp for breath every time she exerts herself,” adds FD. “With this surgery, she should be able to have a normal lifespan."

$1,404raised
Fully funded

9-year-old Emir from Panama loves, “soccer and basketball and, like a lot of young boys, he dreams of making it big as a professional athlete,” shares our medical partner, Floating Doctors (FD). Emir has a granuloma on his foot, which is a mass of tissue that typically arises in response to an infection or a foreign object in the area. “Two years ago, Emir noticed a small, pea-sized lump on the sole of his foot,” continues FD. “At first, he didn’t think much of it, but it continued to grow until he had a hard firm mass right under the sole of his foot. It hurts when he walks and he can’t play sports anymore.” The pea-sized lump has grown to a three inch ball below his arch. This granuloma has prevented Emir from living a full and healthy life. $730 will fund treatment to remove the granuloma from his foot and allow him to continue to play soccer.

$729raised
Fully funded

Meet Lizzy, an extraordinary woman who lives in a small village in western Panama. She has 13 children, and is also a grandmother, and a great grandmother, Lizzy is the matriarch of her family. Since bearing so many children, she now lives with an umbilical hernia - where parts of her intestines are pushed through the abdominal muscles and bulge out under her skin. Every time Lizzy carries something, uses the bathroom, coughs, or even sits, she is in discomfort. If the blood supply to the herniated intestines is constricted, she is at risk of life-threatening complications. Lizzy has been living with this condition for 10 years, and has not been able to afford proper medical care. For $1200, our medical partners at Floating Doctors will perform a surgical repair of her umbilical hernia and provide follow-up medical care. Her doctor says, “This care will allow Lizzy to be free from constant pain, free from the constant risk of strangulation of her bowels, and free to concentrate on spending time with her large family and continuing to be the guiding presence in their lives.”

$1,200raised
Fully funded

Alma comes from an extremely remote community in Panama. There are no roads to her village. The only way to and from it is by boat across extremely rough waters. Alma has a growing tumor called a retinoblastoma behind her left eye. The tumor has already destroyed the affected eye, and if it's not removed, it will invade her right eye and attack the surrounding tissue,"ultimately resulting in death," according to her doctors. Alma is cared for by her uncle, who is ready and willing to make the journey with her to Panama City for surgery if we can cover the cost of transportation and treatment. Let's raise the $1450 Alma needs to have this tumor removed and have a chance at a healthy life.

$1,450raised
Fully funded

Rolando is a 2-year-old boy with a cleft lip and palate. Because of his condition, Rolando has trouble eating and breathing. He has already been treated for pneumonia several times, and if left untreated Rolando will continue to be at risk for serious respiratory infection. Given the remote location of Rolando’s home village, this could be fatal. Fortunately, Floating Doctors can arrange for Rolando to get the treatment he needs. With surgery, they believe Rolando can grow up normally. Rolando is from an indigenous area of Panama. His mother is tirelessly devoted to him and his three siblings, but they live on less than $1.60 per day. Just the cost of traveling to the mainland of Panama is prohibitive for them. To get Rolando the care he needs, Floating Doctors will cross two bodies of water and a 5,000 foot-tall mountain range. We are honored to support their work and look forward to covering the cost of Rolando’s treatment.

$1,400raised
Fully funded