`Lucky Friday' to get mended heart

Nine-month-old Vy Soksamnang, held by his mother, Ratha Vang, will be flown from Cambodia to Children s Heart Center in Las Vegas for heart surgery with the help of the Long Beach nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries. Vy has a ventricular septal defect, or a hole in the heart, the same defect that afflicted another impoverished Cambodian child, Davik Teng, whom the nonprofit helped receive surgery earlier this year.

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
09/22/2008

LONG BEACH - Lucky in Las Vegas. Sounds like a working title for a movie, but it could be a real-life fairy tale for a young Cambodian boy.

It wouldn't be right, exactly, to call him Davik II, but Vy Soksamnang, like Davik, may be able to receive life-altering heart surgery, possibly within a couple of months.

Translated, Soksamnang means "Lucky Friday."

Barring unforeseen complications in the boy's condition after more thorough examinations, Children's Heart Center, a Las Vegas hospital, has offered its staff and facilities for the operation on a 9-month-old boy from a poor village outside of Phnom Penh.

Dr. Lyda Luy, a cardiologist in Cambodia, diagnosed Vy with a ventricular septal defect, or hole in the heart, the same condition that afflicted Davik.

Left untreated, the condition worsens and can irreparably damage the lungs. The afflicted are often easily fatigued and have trouble breathing.

The heart procedure is routine by Western standards, but requires a heart-lung machine and expertise often not readily available in Cambodia.

A Long Beach nonprofit, Hearts Without Boundaries, will make the arrangements for the boy and his mother's transportation and lodging.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit arranged for 9-year-old Davik Teng, another impoverished child with a heart condition, to receive the same surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Initially, Hearts Without Boundaries, with the help of Susan Grossfeld and her San Diego cardiologist husband, Paul Grossfeld, tried to broker a deal with Rady Children's Hospital, where Paul Grossfeld works.

When the California hospital demurred, Susan Grossfeld wasted no time. Her next call was to Dr. William Evans in Las Vegas.

"I picked up the phone and asked if they were interested," Susan Grossfeld said. "I got a call back an hour later and they said `Done.' As simple, as easy as that."

Peter Chhun, president of Hearts Without Boundaries, was thrilled to have the chance to help another child.

"Each time I receive this time of news, it's wonderful," Chhun said. "I'm speechless."

Chhun said he could barely contain himself when he got the good news.

"I jump up and down," Chhun said. "My co-workers look at me like I'm crazy. For me, this is beyond words. I just look up in the sky and say thank God for guiding me and helping another child."

Vy lives in poverty in a bamboo hut with no electricity or running water. His mother, Ratha Vang, is unemployed. His father is a border guard stationed far from home.

Vy will be examined by Paul Grossfeld in November when he joins Variety Lifeline, which makes annual trips to Cambodia to offer minor heart repairs.

Assuming Grossfeld concurs with Luy, Chhun, who will be helping Variety Lifeline, hopes to bring Vy and his mother to the United States then.

Hearts Without Boundaries is raising funds for Vy's journey. Information is available by calling Chhun at 818-640-6191 or going to www.heartswithoutboundaries.org.