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Sara is Doing Great Back in Iraq One Month After Surgery
April 25, 2010 by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Sara and her father came by our office on their way to a check-up with the local cardiologist, Dr. Aso Faeq.
It was a joy to see her and talk with her. She is doing great and is enjoying a little time off from school. We talked about picnics and the results of recent elections. They told us in detail of their visits to Deelan’s family, who also went to surgery in March. They amazed me with their love for this little boy they didn’t even know until they met at the airport on their way to Istanbul. It is great to see healed hearts, bright futures, and relationships formed (and/or sustained) across some recent - and some more historic - barriers between Turkmen, Kurd and Arab in the city of Kirkuk.
We ended our time with them celebrating with the fresh baklava and chocolates they brought to say “thank you.” Thanks to all of you Woodway college students Sara is alive and thriving with her newly healed heart.
Follow Sara on Twitter: @SaraMuaeed. Subscribe to Sara’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sara’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
ADOPT A CHILD
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Churches, universities, and other organized groups were the backbone of our large fundraising efforts in 2009—and now we’re looking for at least 12 churches, mosques, synagogues, universities, youth groups, etc to adopt an single Iraqi child to raise life-saving awareness and funds on his/her behalf. Group goals usually range between $5,000–10,000—though we’ve seen junior high groups raise over $8k and college students pull together $30k! |
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Jessica Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Family Services Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. She is also a mother of two children and is married to PLC's Executive Director, Jeremy Courtney. When not absorbed in caring for Iraqi children and sharing life with Iraqi families, she enjoys sewing and scrapbooking. |
Baby Leena Leaves Iraq for Urgent Surgery in Turkey
April 14, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
It was about mid-morning on Sunday when Leena’s dad came into our office, frantically looking for help for his daughter who was dying before his eyes from her congenital heart defect.
We contacted our partners in Istanbul at the Anadolu Medical Center and they concurred: it might be too late for Leena, now 50 days old, but if there was any remaining chance she should come immediately.
With unprecedented speed we worked with Leena’s father and their extended family to get Leena to surgery. The family and friend network rallied quickly sold their car and rallied with a total of $10,000. Within just a few hours we were able to get our local staff, Leena, and her mother on the very last seats out of Iraq on Tuesday’s flight to Istanbul.
The picture above is Leena’s last moments with her father before leaving him to go back to the village where he is 8 year old Mohammed Star’s elementary school teacher, whom we sent to surgery in November 2009.
Are you looking for a way to get involved? Let us suggest the following three actions:
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
ADVOCATE OF THE WEEK
March 31, 2010 by Cody · 1 Comment
Meet PLC’s latest Advocate of the Week, Dony Costa.
I had the privilege of talking with Dony in the beginning of 2010. As Dony was sharing with me all that he’s doing to advocate on behalf of PLC, I was impressed, but as he started to share with me more of his personal story, I was blown away. Here’s an excerpt from one of our talks, see for yourself why Dony’s our Advocate of the Week:
Alright, Dony - tell us more about yourself. Who is Dony Costa?
Since I could walk I could skate. I was a very active kid, Ice Hockey being my passion ever since my first hospital visit in 1989 when the Los Angeles Kings Hockey team came in to visit kids who were staying at the hospital. I continued to play hockey until the age of 19 when I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. Within the first year, I was in the hospital receiving blood transfusions as the doctors fought to keep me alive on the surgery table. My heart was not strong enough to come off of bypass so that was when my first internal Pacemaker was implanted. I began to live a normal life, staying in sports, going to school just like the other kids until I had to have my pacemaker changed once every six years.
In October of 2008 I started to have trouble breathing so I went to my doctor to have it checked out. I couldn’t even fall asleep because it was so hard to breathe. It got so bad that I slept in the shower for about a month with hot water running so it would open up my lungs. (My Mom wasn’t too happy about that when she got the water bill!) Then I had my mom drive me to the ER. My heart was enlarged twice its size, almost a full centimeter which I guess is a substantial amount of ones heart to grow in the matter of months. I was rushed to surgery but because of how weak my heart was they couldn’t put me under all the way for fear of not being able to bring me back from the anesthesia. A Dual chamber pacemaker/defibrillator was implanted and yes, I did wake up.
My doctor gave me a year to live on the heart I had until I would need a transplant. My doctor told me I would be out of breathe if I walked outside to get the mail. My doctor told me my heart was so fragile it could give out if something scared or shocked me. My doctor told me I would have to be put on disability because I could not work or go to school. All my doctors decided to let me go home on Christmas Eve because they TOLD me it would be nice to spend my last Christmas at home.
That year I decided to live.
What made you become an advocate of PLC?
The aspect I love about Preemptive Love is the sincerity of each case and that each one is taken seriously. I love that they not only help pay for the life saving procedure but also for the family to be there with their child. Going through what I did, I know my spirits would have been down to the point of maybe not getting better because my family wasn’t there. I can not stress that fact enough. And I love the follow up that PLC does with each child.
When you come visit us in Iraq, what will you tell these kids with the same heart condition that you have?
If I could sit down with one of these kids I would gladly tell them my story and tell them how important it is to have family around and keep your mind set high. I would tell these kids no matter how bad their condition is, that there is always hope, even for the lost cause cases like me. Finally I would tell them that I am playing Hockey. I am cycling. I am employed. I am getting ready to go back to school. I am doing all this on the same heart GOD gave me.
Never lose hope.
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Cody Fisher is a co-founder and U.S. Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. Cody is married to the marvelous Michelle Fisher and they currently live in Southern California. Cody is a lover of people, good music, photography, and anything that makes him laugh. |
Deelan Calls Daddy in Iraq: “I’m Coming Home!”
March 11, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Press the “forward” button above to view and read the captioned slideshow about Deelan’s journey through surgery and the phone call to his daddy in Iraq that brought tears to our eyes!
COPY AND PASTE THE CODE BELOW TO EMBED THIS SLIDESHOW IN YOUR OWN WEBSITE
Currently set to 600 pixels wide
Are you looking for a way to get involved? Let us suggest the following three actions:
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Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Sozyar’s Smiles (VIDEO)
March 10, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
When Sozyar came to our office a few weeks ago she was urgent enough for the referring organization to ask that we do everything we could to move her to the front of the line.
Within two weeks she was in surgery with Dr. Sertac Cicek in Istanbul, Turkey - that may be a record turnaround for any organization working on congenital heart disease issues in Iraq today.
After a few days recovering in ICU, she was discharged to her private room where she has been the last few days.
And look at her today!
Gone is the blue skin from lack of oxygen; gone is the threat to her life; and here to stay - for some time it seems - are smiles and joy and kisses and waves and “that winky thing” she does.
Hers is a story of cooperation. It’s a story of your kindness. It’s a story of compassion.
Thanks for all you’ve given for Sozyar to live.
With thanks and joy!
Follow baby Sozyar on Twitter: @SozyarHamdan. Subscribe to Sozyar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sozyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Dua is Out of Surgery with a Total Correction for Her Heart
February 27, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
I reported incorrectly on Thursday when I introduced Dua as having “tricuspid atresia.” She in fact came to us with “extreme Tetralogy of Fallot.” The great news is that she just received a total correction for her heart problem that we plaguing her and threatening her life just days ago.
While everything did go according to plan, Dua does have a fever right now in ICU and nurses are monitoring her closely as we head into the weekend.
Please continue to pray for this little girl; specifically that whatever is causing her fever would subside and that she will stabilized and be removed from life-support in the next day or two.
With gratitude and joy,
Follow Dua Arif on Twitter: @Dua_Arif. Subscribe to Dua’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Dua’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Advocate of the Week: Lawan Hawizy
January 28, 2010 by Cody · Comments Off
Lawan Hawizy, an Iraqi-Kurd living in London, is our advocate of the week! How do you become an “Advocate of the Week”? You overcome chronic back pain and knee surgery and run a half marathon with three of your friends to raise money and awareness to pay for the life-saving heart surgery for a group of kids in Iraq needing lifesaving heart surgery.
This might not be our standard every week but when we talked with Lawan and heard his story, we knew this title belonged to him! Lawan and 27,000 others will run the Semi-Marathon De Paris on March 7th. The only difference is that Lawan’s running to save lives.
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Our February group of kids comprises Kurds from all over northern Iraq, including Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Dohuk regions. They were all born with congenital heart disease and because of that they can’t play like the other kids and face death. They definitely cannot run like Lawan. But now, thanks to Lawan, kids like Mohammed (pictured left), Sara, and Lea have a chance at life and one day they too can be an advocate that’s willing to run miles in honor of those who can’t. | |||
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Join Lawan and his team in their fight for the lives of our February surgery group by donating the amount of your choice in the field below. All donations help the Preemptive Love Coalition send the group to life-saving heart surgery.
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Some of our international customers have apparently been having problems donating. To make a gift over the phone using your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover), please call +1 805-245-4666 during normal business hours - Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Coast Time (GMT -8:00). |
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This campaign was originally initiated in the name of a little girl named Daroon. Because of family fears of sending their child and her mother abroad for surgery to Turkey, they have withdrawn her name from our February Group. All funds previously raised in her name were donated online under the “February Surgery Group” line item (please see your receipt) and those funds will be used - along with any further donations - to meet the financial needs of the entire group, as some surgeries come in over/under budget. For more information please email info[at]preemptivelove[dot]org. | |||
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Cody Fisher is a co-founder and U.S. Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. Cody is married to the marvelous Michelle Fisher and they currently live in Southern California. Cody is a lover of people, good music, photography, and anything that makes him laugh. |
Mohammad Coloring Pictures in His Room - Fit to Fly Home to Iraq Tomorrow Morning
November 9, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We told you in the amazing film of Mohammad’s surgery - made by PLC’s Joshua Gigliotti - about Mohammad’s mother’s tears and the weight of the burden that it is to entrust your only son to foreigners, in a foreign land, and to have your only access to life-saving services taking place in a foreign language. And though we told you that weight was lifted, there is still another weight that always remains: the weight of loneliness in having to bear all these life-and-death decisions without your spouse.
It’s not uncommon for other programs in the region to take children out of the country for months or more at a time. The logistics of scheduling surgeries with other hospitals and different policies about finances often cause Iraqi families themselves to be put in an even harder position in pursuit of life-saving solutions.
This is yet another reason why we are so grateful for all the amazing staff at the Anadolu Medical Center. They make scheduling, pricing, planning, and every other form of logistics so unbelievably easy that we cannot help but save more lives because of it. Because of them we are able to serve more of the riskiest of children, faster, and cheaper than many other programs in the region - and far better than we ever dreamed possible.
The upshot is that Mohammad is going home to his dad tomorrow. His mother is not going to be kept on this surgical sojourner any longer than was absolutely necessary. And Mohammad is one step closer to getting back to Iraq to go to school and beginning pursuing his big dreams!
Exactly one week after leaving his home country for surgery, Mohammad will be resting at home!
Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
New Embed-able, Share-able, Tweetable, Facebookable Video of Life-Saving, Game-Changing Heart Surgery
November 7, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
A PEAK BEHIND THE SCENES INTO MOHAMMAD STAR’S SURGERY from Preemptive Love on Vimeo.
When he arrived in Iraq to intern with the Preemptive Love Coalition 5 months ago, Joshua Gigliotti never imagined he would end up sitting in on a heart surgery with one of the most amazing pediatric heart surgeons in this part of the world…
When Kelly gave his extremely needed, life-saving donation last week, he may not have known that he was actually going to have a chance to see how we put his hard-earned money to work.
And when Sheikh Fakher & Sheikh Towfiq of the Qaiwan Group graciously funded Mohammad’s surgery, in fulfillment of PLC’s requirement that 50% of all life-saving surgery funds come from within Iraq’s borders, they hoped (but couldn’t be sure) that their investment would go beyond good intentions.
And even Mohammad and his mother, when they got on the plane three days ago from Iraq to Turkey, probably did not expect that they would come to feel deep gratitude and love for the administrative, nursing, and doctoral staff of the Anadolu Medical Center.
But Josh was in that surgery, creating this media production to show to Kelly, the Qaiwan group, and you, and Mohammad’s mom erupted in prayers of thanksgiving and praise to God for the Turks that live to the north of her… These Turks that her neighbors might very well call enemies, she now calls friends.
Press play above to see beyond good intentions… watch a life be changed forever!
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Idrees is slated for surgery in January 2010. We will be collecting money for his life-saving surgery throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family! | |||
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Donate the amount of your choice to Idrees by entering it in the field below. All donations made before January 2010 will go to help the Preemptive Love Coalition send Idrees (and any others in his group) to life-saving heart surgery.
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Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Toyota (Yeah, the Auto Maker) Features PLC in Their “Get in Gear” Campaign
October 19, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
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David Statham visited PLC in Iraq in April 2009 after his wife bought an intriguing shirt that said, “Buy Shoes. Save Lives.” on it. Statham, Technology Manager for Toyota Motor Sales (USA) for his day job, has gone on to raise thousands of dollars and tons of awareness for PLC in Toyota and in his home state of California. Statham also serves on the PLC Advisory Board. |
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
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