Carer Sorphany Kith and nurse unit manager Niekie Maritz say goodbye to Cambodian teenager Dalin Chy yesterday. Picture: DAVID THORPE
Dalin farewells hospital staff
17/10/2007
By DI THOMAS
The Border Mail (Wodonga, Vic, Australia)
CAMBODIAN teenager Dalin Chy, 14, leaves the Border today for a brief visit to Melbourne before flying home on Friday.
The Melbourne tour will bring to a close a two-week visit to Australia during which the teenager underwent a marathon seven-hour operation at the Albury-Wodonga Private Hospital to remove a benign tumour from her neck.
Yesterday, Dalin made her final visit to the hospital to farewell staff who cared for her during her operation and recovery.
Despite her inability to speak English, the young girl became a firm favourite with staff who presented her with a bracelet as a farewell gift.
Her surgeon Kevin Holwell will return to Cambodia with her on Friday for one of his twice-yearly trips to the Asian country where he holds clinics with hearing aid specialist Terry Ryan.
But first, Dalin will have the opportunity to see some of the Melbourne’s tourist highlights.
Dalin’s journey to Australia to remove the tumour and alleviate pressure on her breathing passages resulted from the generosity of Border medical professionals, the Albury-Wodonga Private Hospital and the Rotary Club of West Albury.
Mr Holwell headed a team of two anaesthetists, a Melbourne surgeon and up to five nurses during the operation more than a week ago.
Mr Holwell said he was hopeful Dalin might be able to go to school for the first time and $400 had been raised within the community towards future education expenses.
Further details about the West Albury Rotary Club’s Cambodian aid program are available on (02) 6023 6606.
The Melbourne tour will bring to a close a two-week visit to Australia during which the teenager underwent a marathon seven-hour operation at the Albury-Wodonga Private Hospital to remove a benign tumour from her neck.
Yesterday, Dalin made her final visit to the hospital to farewell staff who cared for her during her operation and recovery.
Despite her inability to speak English, the young girl became a firm favourite with staff who presented her with a bracelet as a farewell gift.
Her surgeon Kevin Holwell will return to Cambodia with her on Friday for one of his twice-yearly trips to the Asian country where he holds clinics with hearing aid specialist Terry Ryan.
But first, Dalin will have the opportunity to see some of the Melbourne’s tourist highlights.
Dalin’s journey to Australia to remove the tumour and alleviate pressure on her breathing passages resulted from the generosity of Border medical professionals, the Albury-Wodonga Private Hospital and the Rotary Club of West Albury.
Mr Holwell headed a team of two anaesthetists, a Melbourne surgeon and up to five nurses during the operation more than a week ago.
Mr Holwell said he was hopeful Dalin might be able to go to school for the first time and $400 had been raised within the community towards future education expenses.
Further details about the West Albury Rotary Club’s Cambodian aid program are available on (02) 6023 6606.
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