PENANG, Mon: Little J. Yogeswary needs to undergo corrective heart surgery at the Penang Adventist Hospital by tomorrow and is in dire need of funds.

The 23 month-old baby has been diagnosed with Patent Ductus Arteriorsus (PDA), and the cost of the surgery is estimated to be RM 17,100.

She is initially thought to be suffering from leukemia but the doctors at the hospital later found out that she has PDA.

PDA results when an open connection of blood vessel between the pulmonary artery and the aorta fails to close shortly after birth.

Yogeswary’s father, Natarajan Jayaraman, 36, is an odd-job laborer and earns RM300 a month, and her mother, M. Sivapakiam, 35, is a housewife. They have three other children, aged four to six.

He said the neighbors occasionally donate food to them.

The family has been know to only consume condensed milk in the morning, and their only meal for the day is rice with plain curry at about 3pm.

The family’s plight was highlighted at a press conference organized by the Penang Adventist Hospital and the Rotary Club of Penang.

The organizations are involved in a joint project, called the Gift of Life, aimed at helping the poor and sick children, from infants to children up to 18, who are in need of corrective heart surgery.