"300 Lives in 30 Days" campaign raises $50k

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) --  What started as a bike-a-thon to raise money for children's heart surgeries in Kyrgyzstan turned into a 30-day campaign culminating in the "Bike Your Heart Out" event here May 18 and 19.

During the bike-a-thon, more than 81 Airmen from the Transit Center at Manas biked more than 3,400 miles. Throughout the month, they raised more than $50,000 -- enough to fund approximately 90 surgeries.

About 40 percent of that $50,000 was donated directly by Airmen at the Transit Center, some of whom are a part of the Manas Area Benefit Outreach society, the installation's biggest non-profit private organization, said Master Sgt. James Gagner, the 376th Expeditionary Mission Support Group first sergeant. The rest was donated by friends and family.

The MABOS heart surgery program was founded in 2005 by Jim Carney, a retired Army first sergeant with a passion for helping Kyrgyz children, according to a wing-wide e-mail by Lt. Col. Jason Janaros, the 376th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron commander.

Mr. Carney partnered closely with Dr. Samidin Shabraliev, a local surgeon who agreed to donate his medical services for free, the e-mail said. Additionally, a device called an oxygenator, which functions as a mechanical lung, is required during surgery, at a cost of $560. Through charitable donations, MABOS has paid for 152 life-saving surgeries for Kyrgyz families.

The surgeries are performed at the Heart Surgery and Organ Transplant Research Institute in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Physicians at the institute are able to operate on approximately 15 children a week, and are only restricted from doing more surgeries by the space, equipment, and beds in the intensive care unit, where children spend their first two days after surgery.

"The most common condition these children are born with is called Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)," Colonel Janaros said. "All babies have a hole in their heart septum during development, but it closes in 80 percent of people before birth. For babies with PFO, the hole does not close and blood flows directly from the right side of the heart to the left side of the heart without ever going to the lungs for oxygen. The un-oxygenated blood is then pushed out to the body, resulting in a condition called hypoxia." 

It is estimated that more than 600 children in Kyrgyzstan need this operation, and the number is growing every day.

Sergeant Gagner said he was amazed by how little it takes to save a life here.

"When I heard it only cost $560, I thought somebody was wrong, that there should have been at least another zero added," he said. Of course, one major reason the expense is so small is that the doctor performs the surgery pro-bono, but even so, "I never thought it would be that low."

He said he was also amazed by how generous some of the Airmen here were.

One individual who stood out in his mind is a senior airman who anonymously made a pledge of $1,000, and the kick-off campaign last month was started by two Airmen from the 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, Sergeant Gagner said. 

He said he attributed the outpouring of generosity during the campaign to the fact that Airmen have been able to get out into the community and physically see and hear the needs.

"It hits home," he said. "They're not just reading a brochure or reading it in the newspaper. We put together and worked on this fundraiser for the sole purpose of saving these kids' lives."