Davik Teng, 9, leaps off her rocketship in Tomorrowland at Disneyland on Saturday. (Jeff Gritchen/Long Beach Press-Telegram)
Davik Teng tries on mouse ears at Disneyland. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)
Chatha Bob, center, holods on to Davik Teng as they and her mother, Sin Chhon, pose for a picture with Goofy at Disneyland. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)06/21/2008
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Pres Telegram (Long Beach, California, USA)
See photos: Davik at Disneyland
Watch the multimedia presentation: Davik's Heart
Watch the multimedia presentation: Davik's Heart
ANAHEIM - Davik Teng, you've traveled halfway around the world from a bamboo hut in a remote village in Cambodia. You've had your heart repaired in the United States. And you've captured people's imagination every step of the way. What are you going to do next?
You got it. Davik, the 9-year-old girl from a Battambang Province, went to Disneyland on Saturday.
In the final weeks before returning to her home village, Davik, who underwent life-altering open-heart surgery three months ago, is being taken on a whirlwind tour of Southern California sites.
And certainly few are more emblematic of what must seem like a fantasyland to the young girl and her mother. Few places could encapsulate the American sense of excess. Few are as singular and distinct as the Happiest Place on Earth.
Wearing a "cupcake" T-shirt, green jeans and white Skecher shoes, Davik may have looked like any kid visiting Disneyland.
But until five months ago, Davik had hardly ever ventured beyond a village with no electricity or running water. She certainly had never heard of Mickey Mouse, much less Disneyland. But, as it seems to do with children from all walks of life, the Magic Kingdom lived up to its name.
Davik had barely cleared the gates when she saw Goofy and tugged Chantha Bob, the man who helped bring her to the U.S., along to have her picture taken with the costumed Disney character.
Davik's first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which she went through with hands over her ears. Davik's mother, Sin Chhon, laughed uproariously when passing an area on the ride where a drunken pirate is happily sitting in a sty with several pigs.
Despite holding her ears throughout the ride, like just about any other kid, Davik wanted to ride again.
After a trip on the Astro Orbiter, Davik joked that the ride had scared her mom. But during the plunge on Splash Mountain and on the Thunder Mountain Railroad, it was Davik who buried her head in her mom's shoulder, while Sin laughed with glee.
The Mad Tea Party and King Arthur's Carousel appeared to be Davik's favorites as she ran out and right back into line for both.
The trip was another milestone in a journey that has been filled with magical moments.
Davik, who suffered from a large quarter-sized hole in her heart called a ventricular septal defect, was discovered in her remote village by Chantha Bob, a local waiter at Sophy's Restaurant in Long Beach.
A girl who now can run and play with the abandon of a typical 9-year-old was wheezing her way to a shortened life when she was discovered in her poor little village.
After efforts to have her heart repaired in Cambodia failed, she was brought to California by Peter Chhun and Hearts Without Boundaries, a Long Beach-based nonprofit. Her heart was repaired at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, which donated its facilities and the medical staff and doctors.
Cardiologist Mark Sklansky pronounced Davik fit to travel and Chhun has arranged to take Davik and her mom back to Cambodia on July 10.
Prior to Davik's departure, one final fete is scheduled to be held in her honor. A dinner Chhun is calling "Davik's Last Dance" will be held at the Golden Villa, 1350 E. Anaheim St., and catered by Sophy's.
But before all that, there was the mandatory trip to Disneyland. And as the afternoon shadows lengthened and it was time to go home, the girl with the new heart added a pair of mouse ears to her collection of prizes from the U.S.
greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
You got it. Davik, the 9-year-old girl from a Battambang Province, went to Disneyland on Saturday.
In the final weeks before returning to her home village, Davik, who underwent life-altering open-heart surgery three months ago, is being taken on a whirlwind tour of Southern California sites.
And certainly few are more emblematic of what must seem like a fantasyland to the young girl and her mother. Few places could encapsulate the American sense of excess. Few are as singular and distinct as the Happiest Place on Earth.
Wearing a "cupcake" T-shirt, green jeans and white Skecher shoes, Davik may have looked like any kid visiting Disneyland.
But until five months ago, Davik had hardly ever ventured beyond a village with no electricity or running water. She certainly had never heard of Mickey Mouse, much less Disneyland. But, as it seems to do with children from all walks of life, the Magic Kingdom lived up to its name.
Davik had barely cleared the gates when she saw Goofy and tugged Chantha Bob, the man who helped bring her to the U.S., along to have her picture taken with the costumed Disney character.
Davik's first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which she went through with hands over her ears. Davik's mother, Sin Chhon, laughed uproariously when passing an area on the ride where a drunken pirate is happily sitting in a sty with several pigs.
Despite holding her ears throughout the ride, like just about any other kid, Davik wanted to ride again.
After a trip on the Astro Orbiter, Davik joked that the ride had scared her mom. But during the plunge on Splash Mountain and on the Thunder Mountain Railroad, it was Davik who buried her head in her mom's shoulder, while Sin laughed with glee.
The Mad Tea Party and King Arthur's Carousel appeared to be Davik's favorites as she ran out and right back into line for both.
The trip was another milestone in a journey that has been filled with magical moments.
Davik, who suffered from a large quarter-sized hole in her heart called a ventricular septal defect, was discovered in her remote village by Chantha Bob, a local waiter at Sophy's Restaurant in Long Beach.
A girl who now can run and play with the abandon of a typical 9-year-old was wheezing her way to a shortened life when she was discovered in her poor little village.
After efforts to have her heart repaired in Cambodia failed, she was brought to California by Peter Chhun and Hearts Without Boundaries, a Long Beach-based nonprofit. Her heart was repaired at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, which donated its facilities and the medical staff and doctors.
Cardiologist Mark Sklansky pronounced Davik fit to travel and Chhun has arranged to take Davik and her mom back to Cambodia on July 10.
Prior to Davik's departure, one final fete is scheduled to be held in her honor. A dinner Chhun is calling "Davik's Last Dance" will be held at the Golden Villa, 1350 E. Anaheim St., and catered by Sophy's.
But before all that, there was the mandatory trip to Disneyland. And as the afternoon shadows lengthened and it was time to go home, the girl with the new heart added a pair of mouse ears to her collection of prizes from the U.S.
greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291
6 comments:
Wonderful hospital of the USA!
What about the rest of the kids with similar heart disease? When will the wonderful hospital in the USA takes care of them?
What is about Cambodia Hospital?
When Cambodia government take care about Cambodia Hospital?
Will Davik have a chance to live a similar life in Cambodia as she lives here in the US? Will there be anyone sponsoring her as years go down the road? What kind of life will she have back at home? If she is going back to the same poverty life as she would have back in Cambodia before arriving in the US, life isn't much and it's sad. This new change is very negative.
The soon we are as rich as the US, 3:11. Hello!
8:31AM good intention but no one can save the whole world just right noow! First we need to kick the communist out of planet earth!
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