Bringing Dale Life

A string of miracles already binds this little life together.

Dale was born March 21st and abandoned soon after. His cleft lip and palate are obvious defects, and so is his severe heart disease. One look at Dale and you would know; his chest retractions, that blue skin, the way he fights for every breath... Just by looking at the creases on Dale's forehead, we know that he's been through so much.

The fact that Dale is alive to today is a miracle. He needs heart surgery as soon as possible - he should have already had it. But Dale just arrived. His orphanage took his case to Shanghai, but the doctors there knew their capacity. A case of his complexity would be inoperable.

Dale arrived at NDFH two weeks ago (August 15th). Today he is 5 1/2 months old and weighs 6lb. He's a fighter, but he doesn't have much fight left in him if he doesn't get surgery soon.

We are actively trying to get Dale's surgery scheduled. It's not an easy process, his case is complex and only the best surgeons can do it - we only use the best. But aside from the logistics of scheduling and tests and open beds, there is another problem.

Dale is weak. He needs to gain weight and strength if he's going to have a chance surviving heart surgery.

We have contacted some of our trusted resources and they are giving us suggestions for caring for Dale. One key is nutrition: Dale needs good quality, easy to digest and high-nutrition formula. So this is what we are doing; we're going to raise money to purchase some of this formula for Dale. An intern is flying to Beijing next week - she's taking off September 5th, so we need the formula before then.

Will you help?

We're raising money to purchase the formula and to pay for an extra suitcase for our intern. If we raise all of the money, we will have enough formula to last Dale up to, through and post-surgery. And if he gets strong faster than we anticipated? Well, we certainly have plenty of little ones who could use some extra nutrition.

Medical speaking, he doesn't have much time left. But miraculously-speaking... this story has just begun.

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Deep down, we hate fundraising, but considering our situation right now... please share this need with others. We welcome you to link to this post on your facebook pages, blogs etc. Copy the chipin widget (copy-past the button code in the upper right-hand corner) and put that on your blog as well! We only have a short time to raise the money.