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The ongoing China-Cambodia Love Heart Journey project has not only saved the lives of dozens of Cambodian children with congenital heart disease (CHD), but also bridged hearts of peoples of the two countries.
Launched in January 2018, the China-aided project aimed to provide 150 Cambodian children who have CHD with free surgery or treatment at the Fuwai Yunnan Cardiovascular Hospital in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Chea Monyrith, the manager of the CHD project in Cambodia, said his team has assisted the Chinese medical team to carry out checks for more than 53,000 school children in 12 cities and provinces for CHD.
"According to a study and based on this figure, one out of 1,000 children in Cambodia has congenital heart disease," he told Xinhua after an experience-sharing seminar on CHD on Friday.
"Eighty-seven children, sent to China for treatment, had returned to Cambodia with pretty good health," he said.
Tou Tang, 14, who had his congenital heart defects operated successfully by Chinese doctors in 2019, said the project has brought him new life and hope.
"Now, I can play sports and have no shortness of breath like before," the ninth-grade student from Ratanakiri province said. "I want to be a doctor in the future because the doctors had helped me and I want to save other children when I grow up."
Pich Chanthy, the 68-year-old mother of Tou Tang, said the project has offered a ray of hope for her family.
"I'm very poor and the house I live with my son is as small as a bed," the single mother said. "Without China's help, I could not afford to send him for the surgery."
