May 9 Foundation and Chinese charity perform surgeries for children with hole in heart

Former Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Herbert Mensah, has partnered with a Chinese charity, Shen Yang and Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation, through his May 9 Foundation, to perform surgeries for eleven children suffering from hole in heart.

According to Herbert Mensah, nine out of the eleven surgeries were successful with two of the children losing their lives.

“So far, surgeries have been done for about eleven children with a Hole in heart disease at Korle Bu. Nine of them were successful and two could not make it,” he said.

Speaking at the end of a walk to mark the 22nd anniversary of the May 9 disaster, the former chairman explained that the full cost of the surgeries between $6,000 to $14,000 for each child were catered for by the Chinese charity.

“The entire cost is covered by the Shen Yang and Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation which was started by one of my business associates. As secretary of this children’s heart foundation we intend to do between 20 and 30 surgeries every year for the next 10 years," he said.

He continued “We’re changing lives, we’ve taken pressure off the shoulders of many families, so this for me is an extraordinary thing that is going on, and I am happy that the Shen Yang & Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation and the May 9 Foundation could put together this 10-year long project costing up to nearly $2 million for the benefit of Ghanaian families," he added.

Mr Mensah used the opportunity to express his appreciation to sponsors for making the event possible.

Also, Interplast Limited donated cash and shirts to families of the victims of the Accra Sports Stadium May 9 disaster.

The pipe company as part of its social responsibility has since remained committed to supporting the May 9 Foundation to extend help to families dealing with different situations.

On May 9, 2001, a stampede occurred during a soccer game between Accra Hearts and Kumasi Asante Kotoko claiming about 126 lives with many football supporters injured.