Rakith is a 22-year-old man from Cambodia who loves to play music and sing songs. In fact, Rakith has shaped his life around this passion—he is a professional DJ.
Having a job that relies so heavily on listening has made Rakith’s current medical condition especially difficult. When he was five years old, Rakith had an infection in his left ear that went untreated. He developed a cholesteatoma, an atypical skin growth in the bone behind the eardrum. Although non-cancerous, the cholesteatoma has caused Rakith significant problems. He now experiences hearing loss and ringing or buzzing in the ear.
Rakith traveled two hours to our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre, where he was told his hearing problems can be fixed with a mastoidectomy. When Rakith undergoes this operation on February 8, surgeons will remove part of his ear’s mastoid bone so that they can remove the cholesteatoma. When the growth is gone, Rakith’s hearing will improve.
Rakith and his wife cannot afford to pay for this treatment on their own. For $842, we can fund the procedure he needs, as well as the lab tests and two-day hospital stay necessary to ensure he recovers safely.