Council honors heart patient [Soksamnang Vy]

HEALTH: Charity that brought him here is lauded, too.

02/10/2009
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - Mr. Smith might have gone to Washington, but Soksamnang Vy, aka Lucky, went to City Hall on Tuesday.

The 1-year-old Cambodian boy brought to the United States for life-altering open-heart surgery, his mother and members of the Long Beach nonprofit group that made the trip possible, were acknowledged by the council in a short ceremony at the start of the meeting.

Peter Chhun, founder of the nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries, said Lucky and his mother, Ratha Pang, would "cherish this kind invitation forever."

Chhun said Lucky is just that, lucky to be one of the few among thousands of Cambodian children with similar afflictions to receive treatment that is considered routine in the United States but virtually unavailable in Cambodia.

Vy, who lives in a destitute village outside of Phnom Penh, suffered from a dime-sized hole in his heart called a ventricular septal defect. Although easily repaired in the United States, the defect, left untreated, leads to fatigue, heart damage and a shortened life expectancy.

Hearts Without Boundaries helped broker a deal to treat the boy, secured travel documents and arranged and paid for transportation and lodging.

Chhun said his group has found another child in need of open-heart surgery and is negotiating with Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach to care for the stricken child. Chhun said the cardiac team at the hospital was assessing whether the child was a good candidate.

Soksamnang is the second child the nonprofit has brought to the States. The first, 9-year-old Davik Teng, returned to her home in July and is reported to be in good health.

Chhun was congratulated by Mayor Bob Foster for his work. Foster and 6th District Councilman Dee Andrews presented Chhun and his group a certificate and Lucky with toys and Aquarium of the Pacific tickets.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Surgery repairs toddler's heart

Soksamnang Vy, who turned 1 Monday, was released from Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas a day early following open-heart surgery over the weekend. The Cambodian child had a dime-sized hole in his heart. (Vanta Le/For the Long Beach Press-Telegram)

SUCCESS: Cambodian boy celebrates his first birthday with release from hospital.

12/08/2008
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

A Cambodian boy brought to the United States for life-altering open-heart surgery was released from the hospital a day earlier than expected and is recovering well in Las Vegas.

Soksamnang Vy, who was brought to the United States by Long Beach nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries, celebrated his first birthday Monday with family and a host family from Las Vegas.

He is scheduled to remain in Las Vegas for the week to recuperate and undergo postoperative checkups with cardiologist William Evans and surgeon Michael Ciccolo before returning to Long Beach.

"He's doing a lot better," said cousin David Kem on Monday. "He was scheduled to be released Monday, but at 6:30(p.m. Sunday) doctors said he was ready to go."

The boy underwent surgery Thursday to repair a dime-sized ventricular septal defect, a hole in the heart.

The procedure, done at Sunrise Children's Hospital which donated its facilities and staff, is common and the defect is easily repaired in the U.S. Such surgery is unavailable to children such as Soksamnang, who lives in an impoverished village in Cambodia, because of a lack of machinery and qualified doctors.

Evans said the procedure went smoothly and expects Soksamnang, nicknamed Lucky, to live a full, healthy life.

Members of the Cambodian community in Las Vegas were gathering today for a birthday celebration for Soksamnang.

Hearts Without Boundaries will have a similar celebration with dinner and entertainment at 7 p.m., Dec. 21 at La Lune Restaurant, 1428 Atlantic Ave. Cost is $40 for the public, $30 for students with ID. Information and reservations are available by calling Peter Chhun at 818-640-6191, Tina Thuch at 562-266-6275 or David Kem at 562-544-9627.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

TV shines on 'Davik's Heart'

Click here to watch Davik Heart's Multimedia Presentation
on the Long Beach Press Telegram website

04/17/2008
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - Emmy Award-winning producer Peter Chhun will be in the media spotlight in a big way today.

In the morning, his efforts to bring 9-year-old Cambodian Davik Teng to the United States for open-heart surgery will be featured on "Today." Later, he will be featured as a "Difference Maker" on the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams." And at 7 p.m. at Cal State Long Beach, Chhun is premiering a documentary film he shot and produced.

The "Today" segment, titled "Davik's Heart," is scheduled to air in the half- hour segment between 8:30 and 9 a.m.

That segment, much of which Chhun shot, follows the journey of Davik from a tiny village in Cambodia to Long Beach and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where she received

surgery for a hole in her heart called a ventricular septal defect.

On the "Nightly News," Chhun will be spotlighted for his humanitarian efforts, including bringing Davik to the United States and other projects he has undertaken with Hearts Without Boundaries, a nonprofit he founded. The "Nightly News" airs from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the "Difference Maker" segments run late in the show.

Chhun said both segments could be withheld or postponed if more pressing news breaks.

The documentary is on more solid footing.

"Life Under Red Light, which Chhun filmed over three weeks in March of 2007, documents the harrowing effects of HIV/AIDs in Cambodia.

Throughout the hour-long documentary, Chhun lets sufferers tell the stories in their own words. The film is subtitled in English. A newsman for NBC, Chhun used vacation and personal time to film the project.

Shot in a stark question-and-answer format, the film features subjects including young factory girls who engage in unprotected sex and prostitution to make ends meet and haggard women in the final stages of the disease.

The project arose out of conversations Chhun had with the Long Beach Health Department about local Cambodian-American families living with the disease.

Chhun was unsuccessful in attempts to get Long Beach families to discuss their plight, so he went to Phnom Penh.

"By doing it this way, Cambodian people here can connect with their brothers and sisters living with the disease," Chhun said.

Diana Chea, president of the Cambodian Students Society, arranged with Chhun to have the film debut at the Long Beach Campus.

"As a student organization, we want to represent our culture to the campus and the community - the good, the bad and the ugly," Chea said.

Chhun is hoping to show his film at USC and UCLA, as well.

The event today is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Beach Auditorium inside the Student Union Center. The film will be followed by a question-and- answer period.

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Davik's 'perfect' surgery [-She may be released this weekend]

Sin Chhon greets her daughter, Davik Teng, after heart surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Monday. (Jeff Gritchen)

03/24/2008
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LOS ANGELES - Davik Teng, the Cambodian girl brought to the United States for life-altering heart surgery, underwent what her cardiologist called a "perfect" procedure Monday and was awake and talking to her mom by the late morning.

"It went better than even we thought," cardiologist, Dr. Mark Sklansky of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles told Davik's mother, Sin Chhon, after the 9-year-old emerged from a smooth hourlong operation. "She's a very strong girl, and she's going to do very well."

After hearing the news, Chhon broke into tears and hugged her companions Peter Chhun and Chantha Bob, the two local men responsible for bringing Davik to the United States.

Although it was estimated the surgery that started about 8:15 a.m. could take two to three hours, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, the cardiac surgeon, called the procedure a success at 9:15 a.m.

A world-renowned surgeon, Starnes repaired a quarter-sized hole in one of the chambers in Davik's heart, known as a ventricular septal defect, by sewing a Dacron patch to cover the opening.

"What we did is routine," Starnes said.

Although the operation is common in the United States and, in Davik's case, would normally have been performed during her first year, Chhon tried for years to get help for her child in Cambodia and was consistently rebuffed.

Bob, a Long Beach waiter, first encountered Davik several years ago while delivering rice and food to her small village outside of Battambang in a western province of the country.

Chhun, founder of Long Beach-based Hearts Without Boundaries, organized and funded the effort to bring Davik to the United States, and Childrens Hospital donated the cardiology team and facilities.

Sklansky estimated Davik could be out of the hospital by the weekend.

By 11:30 a.m., Davik was awake, asking for water and to see Chhun, whom she affectionately calls her "great-uncle."

"It feels like a dream," Chhun said after the surgery. "Today it's real. I don't know what to say. I'm so happy. I don't have the words."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Davik Teng's successful open heart surgery

In this photo released by Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Davik Teng, 9 from Cambodia visits with her mother, left, Sin Chhon, family friend Chantha Bob, 2nd from right, from Long Beach, Calif. and Peter Chhun with Hearts Without Boundaries, prior to her undergoing open-heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart by heart surgeon Dr. Vaughn Starnes, Monday, March 24, 2008 at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Bob Riha, Jr.)
In this photo released by Children's Hospital Los Angeles, heart surgeon Dr. Vaughn Starnes, left, from Children's Hospital Los Angeles and his surgical team restart the heart of 9-year-old Davik Teng, from Cambodia, after being removed from Heart/Lung bypass machine during a surgical procedure to repair a hole in her heart. The young heart patient was brought to the United States for the heart surgery by the organization 'Hearts Without Boundaries'. (AP Photo/Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Bob Riha, Jr.)
In this photo released by Children' s Hospital Los Angeles, Sin Chhon is overcome with emotion at seeing her daughter, Davik Teng, 9, from Cambodia after successful heart-surgery by surgeon Dr. Vaughn Starnes at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The surgery was to repair a hole in her daughters heart. The young heart patient was brought to the United States for the heart surgery by the organization 'Hearts Without Boundaries'. (AP Photo/Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Bob Riha, Jr.)
In this photo released by Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Sin Chhon is overcome with emotion at seeing her daughter, Davik Teng, 9, from Cambodia after successful heart-surgery by heart surgeon Dr. Vaughn Starnes at Children's Hospital Los Angeles as family friends Danny Vong left, and Peter Chhun look on. The surgery was to repair a hole in her heart. The young heart patient was brought to the United States for the heart surgery by the organization 'Hearts Without Boundaries'. (AP Photo/Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Bob Riha, Jr.)

Click here for additional information about
Hearts Without Boundaries

Davik Teng's open heart surgery was successful

Surgeons Repair Cambodian Child's Heart Defect

Childrens Hospital Performed Surgery That Her Native Doctors Were Unable To

Mar 24, 2008
CBS2 (Los Angeles, California, USA)

LOS ANGELES Doctors in her home country had been unable to repair the heart defect of a 9-year-old Cambodian girl, but doctors at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles were able to perform the surgery successfully Monday.

Davik Teng was brought to the United States by Hearts Without Boundaries, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian services in Southeast Asia, mainly Cambodia.

A fundraising effort to help Davik had been started when a student at Lincoln Elementary School, Chi Nguyen, saw a poster about Davik's story, and donated $50.

The fifth-grader hadn't told anybody about her donation to Hearts Without Boundaries until her teacher found out and decided to spread the word around the school. Students and their parents responded with enthusiasm.

As of the middle of March, more than $1,700 had been collected and donations were still coming in.

After the two-hour open-heart surgery, Davik was put in the cardiothoracic intensive unit, according to Steve Rutledge of Childrens Hospital. She is expected to be transferred to the regular intensive-care unit Tuesday.