Kenmore Mercy donates surgery

By Jessica Bagley, Tonawanda News

KENMORE — Phan Thi Ha, a Vietnamese woman who is visiting the United States for the first time, will look and feel a lot different when she returns home — all thanks to the generosity of others.

Contributed photo Doctors with the Hope for Tomorrow organization donated their time to remove a tumor from a Vietnamese woman’s face Wednesday during an operation at Kenmore Mercy hospital. Phan Thi Ha has been supported by members of the local Vietnamese community, Cathy Le and Kimberly Phan.

Until Wednesday, Ha, 26, had a large, plexiform nerve-tumor on the left side of her face that caused hearing problems and pain. With both of her parents deceased, Ha, who is homeless, didn’t have the funds to arrange for the surgery or transportation from her small village. As the years passed and the tumor grew, there was little hope she’d ever be able to have it removed.

“She had low confidence, she has been shy,” a Vietnamese translator, Cathy Le, who was helping Ha, said Wednesday.

But that all changed when the local Hope for Tomorrow organization, which works to perform operations on disadvantaged patients from other countries, offered her a free operation and trip to Western New York.

Dr. Jeffrey Meilman, the chair of the board for Hope for Tomorrow, along with Dr. Federico Doldan, performed a four-hour surgery Wednesday at Kenmore Mercy Hospital to remove the tumor.

“She has dealt with this her whole life, and has been shunned by society,” Meilman said before the operation. “She has been living at a Buddhist temple, doing menial tasks to support herself … but when she goes back home, she will look much more normal, and may be able to take better care of herself.”

Before the operation, Ha said she was nervous, but excited.

Read the full story by Jessica Bagley from Tonawanda News.