PENANG, Fri : Her face contorted in pain, Yam Ai Mee broke down in tears at a press conference organized by the Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH).

The 21-year-old from Alor Star is suffering from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease that causes the degeneration of the corrective tissues in one of every 10,000 people.

Ai Yee, who underwent emergency heart surgery two weeks ago, complained that her entire body was arching and that the pain was unbearable.

She was consoled by her father Yam San Yan and the PAH Heart Patients’ Fund chairman Lim Chooi Eng before being wheeled back to her ward.

She was admitted for surgery to correct a defective aorta, which had "ballooned", and it involved a very delicate operation because of her condition.

"The cost of the surgery of RM51,000 was not the immediate issue, as the urgency of her case preceded that of cost," said hospital president Teddric J. Mohr.

Ai Mee is living with her father, who is retired and is depending on the meager earnings of one of her brothers, who is a part-time laborer. Her other brother is jobless, and her two sisters are housewives.

"For the operation, her family managed to raise RM20, 000 while the PAH is contributing RM5,000," said Mohr.

Ai Mee inherited the disease from her mother, who died from it at the aged of 30, but Mohr added that victims of the disease can lead a relatively normal life, with proper medical care.

Another patient, bachelor Teh Wah Teik @ Teh Thuan Huat, 62, who has been stricken by polio since the aged of four, had open-heart surgery done on Dec 28.

"He has admitted with a serious heart condition, and required and emergency operation," said Mohr.

Teh said he first had palpitations of the heart and chest discomfort in 1990, but it was only last year when his condition got worse, and required him to undergo coronary artery bypass graft.

Mohr said that the PAH had carried out 263 open-heart surgeries, and 700 closed heart surgeries last year.

He appealed for donations to the Heart Patients' Fund, and said the public can donate to Penang Adventist Hospital Heart Patients' Fund, 465 Jalan Burma, 10350 Penang.