Boy with hole in heart gets help from popular businessman

May 24, 2009 News

When Kaieteur News published an article about 11-year old Parsram Sugrim who needs surgery to repair a hole in his heart, businessman Cobeer Persaud and his family were so moved that they decided to do whatever they could to assist him.
Sugrim’s condition was so desperate, that his poor mother appealed for help to meet the US$9,250 to fly him to India so that he could have a chance to make it to adulthood.
So moved by the mother’s plea, Persaud of C. Persaud (Anand) Dental Laboratory at Providence, East Bank Demerara decided to help.

Sursattie Persaud-Lall (right), daughter of businessman Cobeer Persaud (Anand) presents the cheque to Parsram Sugrim in the presence of his mother Debbie Wilson.

He and his family donated $200,000 (US$1,000) to help meet the cost of sending little Sugrim to India for surgery.
Sugrim’s mother Debbie Wilson, of 48 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, explained that he is one of 12 selected, through the Kids First Fund, to travel to India to undergo surgery.
The family cannot afford the traveling and medical expenses but the hospital is willing to conduct the surgical procedure.
A document dated April 28, 2009 from the Kids First Fund, indicated that he has Patent Ductus Arteriosus which is said to be a serious problem that requires open heart surgery that is not available in Guyana or Trinidad.
According to the document, the Frontier Lifeline Hospital in Chennai, India would do the procedure at a cost of US$6,250. Traveling expenses would amount to US$3,000 and according to the letter; the ticket has already been confirmed.
The child’s mother explained that she suspected something was wrong with him since birth.
When he was one year old she decided to seek medical help. It was then she discovered that he had this heart condition.
“He born small and he used to cry a lot. He doesn’t have an appetite and most of the time he only use liquid. Some days he would eat nothing at all. If he doesn’t do the surgery he can only live for a few years.”
Parsram Sugrim is both dumb and deaf. He attends the New Amsterdam Special Needs School in Vryman’s Erven. According to Debbie Wilson, the lad tries to be like any other his age but just cannot because of his situation. “He has cataract in the right eye. He was born with it and he is blind in that eye.”
Persaud in an invited comment invited other businesses who have the means to come assist those children in need of surgeries since according to him. “Everyone only has one life to live and if you could help a person live it to its fullest then do so with a good heart.”