Sunday Times 2
Take Heart Mercy Mission – A blessing to little hearts in Sri Lanka
The Take Heart Mercy Mission recently completed its 12th mission to Sri Lanka. The mission led by Dr. Conal Austin, FRCS, Paediatric Surgeon and John Simpson, MD, FRCP, Paediatric Cardiologist originally from Guys and St. Thomas Hospitals UK, was based at Karapitiya Hospital, Galle.
Left to right: Dr. Conal Austin, Dr. John Simpson, two British nurses and Ms. Susila Jayasuriya with a 11-year-old Buddhist monk who underwent surgery in October this year.
The Take Heart Mercy Mission began in 2002 after Dr. Conal Austin and Dr. John Simpson decided that they would like to assist in the development of cardiology and cardiac surgery for poor children in Sri Lanka by making annual visits with a team of 14 medics. The team was then coordinated by Jai Lameer, a patient of Dr. Conal Austin, until his passing away in 2011.
Fortunately Paul Scally, the owner of the Gillingham Football Club in the UK, came to their rescue and the charity was started with new drive under a new name- ‘Take Heart Mercy Mission’. Paul Scally was appointed chairman of the mission and the Dr. Conal Austin and Dr. John Simpson as trustees. To date they have performed 200 heart surgeries in Sri Lanka. They start work early morning the day after they arrive and continue working at a stretch for one week with only a short lunch break each day. Surgery goes on from 7 a.m. till midnight.
Not only do they perform heart scanning and surgeries, but they also manage a post-surgery Intensive Care Unit until the children have recovered and are stable enough to be discharged to the general wards. Over the years, they have also donated cardiac scanning and theatre equipment worth millions of rupees to the Karapitiya Hospital. The maintenance and operational costs of the theatre and cardiological equipment, educational and training programmes in cardiac surgery and after-care are also funded by them. All the surgeries they perform are complicated cases.
A few years ago, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair awarded Dr. Austin an award for the best charity in Asia. The award was made at a dinner to which a Sri Lankan child whom Dr. Austin treated was invited along with her parents. They were flown over for the function by the ‘Mercy Mission’.
Paul Scally has also brought down football coaches who have coached school children in Galle and the suburbs. This year the coaching was at St. Aloysius soccer grounds and soccer boots, shoes, t-shirts, caps and other sporting equipment were also donated to children. Funds for their work are raised in UK at present. In November last year, Paul Scally organized a ball attended by 500 VVIPs and all the profits were pumped into the ‘Take Heart Mercy Mission’ fund.
I came to know Dr. Austin and Dr. Simpson through the Association of British Residents of which I am a member. Sri Lankans could look at ways of helping the mission – one way is to create a support system here through which we could assist by paying for the accommodation of the mothers of children who come from remote areas until they recover and are able to leave the hospital.
Last year Dr. Austin told me that while the doctors were out for a late night walk, they saw the mother of a child who was operated on sitting by the roadside and learnt that she had no place to stay until her child could leave the hospital.
So the doctors helped her with accommodation and meals. Helping them to buy the after-care drugs and nourishing food for the children is another way that we could help them.
For more information, see the Mercy website: www.takeheartmercymission.com