"The Beating of Hearts: One of Christ's Tender Mercies"
Elder Darrel L. Hammon
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| The children and their families |
What
a great experience we had Friday in attending a “closura,” a “handing over” of
a specialty piece of heart diagnostic machine to the Centro de Diagnóstico Medicina
Avanzada y Telemedicina (CEDIMAT) through one of its foundation, Heart Care
Dominicana, Inc.
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| Elder Cornish, Dr. Toribio, y Dr. Ureña |
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| Young man and his grandmother |
According to
the CEDIMAT website, they feel that helping people with scarce resources is “…part
of our social responsibility, taking as a fundamental value of solidarity,
CEDIMAT provides access to advanced medicine to the people of limited economic
resources. Thousands of extreme poverty found in the center the only
alternative to save lives or improve their health in the country, performing
procedures of high complexity” (http://www.cedimat.com/acerca.php).
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| The youngest heart patient at the event with her mother and father |
The foundation responsible for helping
CEDIMAT obtain the heart diagnostic machine is the Heart Care Dominicana, Inc.
(http://www.heartcaredr.org/index_en.html) whose slogan is “Together we make their
heartbeat stronger.”
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| One happy young man |
According to their web page, “Heart Care Dominicana Inc. is a non
Profit Organization that provides care for indigent patients in need of
cardiovascular care. Our mission is to contribute to provide care for patients
whose income prevents them from getting the required cardiovascular procedures
to lead a healthy life; thus providing a better quality of life for them and
their families. Our beneficiaries are evaluated, diagnosed, and treated
locally, assuring the quality of treatment, evolution and follow up” (http://www.heartcaredr.org/en/sobre_nosotros.html).
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| Young shy one with her parents |
Probably the most
delightful part of the whole event was speaking with the children, the ones who
have received medical attention from Dra. Toribio, Dr. Ureña, and their other colleagues who work in the hospital.
We spoke with all of
the children and/or their parents or grandparents who had accompanied them.
They were all very cute and willing to chat, except for one little girl who was
so shy. Her parents tried to get her to say hello, but she did not want to do
it.
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| The 14-year-old future doctor and Dr. Toribio |
One of the touching moments of the events was when I spoke with a
14-year-old young woman who has had heart challenges since she was a little girl. After asking her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she glanced
where Dr. Toribio stood in the front talking with some people, looked at me,
and said with conviction, “I want to be a cardiologist.” When I quizzed her
about her studies, she told me she was a good student, one of the best in her
class.
When I had the opportunity to visit with Dra. Toribio and thank
her for what she was doing, I told her about the young woman. I looked where
she was still sitting and beckoned her to come forward. Dra. Toribio and she hit
it off and began talking about the future. Dra. Toribio gave her some sage
counsel about working hard in school.
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| Young 14-year-old and her mother |
Then, she asked the young woman, “Being a cardiologist is hard
work and requires a lot of study. Will you work and study hard?”
Without hesitation, the young woman said, “Yes, I will.”
“Then,” said Dra. Toribio, “we
want to help you achieve your goal.” They hugged each other. What a sweet
moment with a patient and a doctor, one accomplished and one desiring to
accomplish that which the other had accomplished.
Afterwards, I spoke to the young woman and her mother and told her
she had just received a promise from a very prominent cardiologist who said she
would help her. Now, all was up to her.
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| Young patient and her mother |
These are the days that make
being a missionary so pleasant and so rewarding. Our hope is these young people
will take advantage of the help and the counsel they receive.
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| The heart machine |
