KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 ― Due to a congenital heart defect, four-year-old Lee Wan Lin is unlike other children.

Her condition causes her to have chest pains and breathing difficulties.

Her mother Sugiharyanti said doctors noticed Lee had a rapid heartbeat when she was six-months-old.

“Detailed examinations later revealed abnormalities in her heart but doctors believed the situation was not severe,” she said.

However, when Lee turn four, she started to complain of chest pains and difficulty in breathing.

Attending doctors later confirmed she was suffering from Atrial Septal Defect or commonly known as hole in the heart and would need to undergo immediate surgery that cost RM50,000.

Not knowing where to obtain the funds from, the family decided to approach non-governmental organisation (NGO) Persatuan Kebajikan Amal Da Ai Malaysia for help.

According to Sugiharyanti, her monthly salary of less than RM1,500 as a waitress was not enough to foot the surgery bill.

“I am the family's sole breadwinner as my husband, Lee Ching Sin, cannot work following an accident that left him impaired," she said.

Meanwhile, Ching Sin said his daughter's heart defect had exceeded two centimeters rendering her condition to be critical.

He is appealing for financial help from the public so that Wan Lin could grow up to be a healthy and happy child.

The organisation is also helping to raise funds to help a one-year-old girl suffering from the coarctation of the aorta.

Yuffie Tei's mother Pang Pei Yin, in her 30s, said her daughter was admitted to hospital two months ago for dengue.

“During examinations, doctors detected a heart murmur, and further tests confirmed she has a coarctation of the aorta that leads to reduced blood flow,” she said, adding that doctors stressed that her daughter needed surgery urgently or her life would be at risk.

According to Pang, the surgery would cost RM40,000 and her husband, Tei Choon Sian, who works as a clerk at an accounting firm, with a monthly salary of RM3,000 could not afford it.

Pang is a housewife who needs to look after her daughter and Choon Sian's mother.

“I wish I could bear my daughter's suffering but that would be impossible. Hence, I am appealing to the public to help my daughter,” she said.

Those interested in making a donation or want to know more details, please contact Da Ai social worker, Zayn.