Singaporean couple donates HK$250,000 for Filipino boy’s liver transplant in Hong Kong 

07 March 2006

A generous Singaporean couple based in Hong Kong yesterday donated HK$250,000 (P1.625 million) for the medical expenses of a 30-month-old Filipino boy, Mark Jairus Mendoza, who is scheduled for a liver transplant on 9 March at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital.

“The Lord has been so kind to us. This is the least that we can do,” said the couple, who requested anonymity.

The couple handed over their donation to the Consulate General after reading about Mark’s plight in the South China Morning Post. The Consulate General has forwarded the check to the Queen Mary Hospital. Their donation completes the HK$1 million (P6.5 million) needed to pay for the operation.

Before coming to Hong Kong on 23 February, Mark’s parents, Lyden and Ronaldo, had raised HK$729,000 for the liver transplant through solicitations and donations. After the publication of Mark’s story in the Hong Kong newspapers, donations totaling over HK$11,000 had been coursed through the Consulate General and will be turned over to the Mendoza family. A prominent leader in the Filipino community has also opened a bank account for Mark with a HK$10,000 donation. 

Mark suffers from biliary atresia, a rare liver disease, in which the bile ducts are infected and therefore cannot effectively drain the liver. Mark’s mother, Lyden, will donate part of her liver to her 2 ½ year-old son. The double operation on Thursday is expected to last 12 to 16 hours. Both mother and son will undergo major surgical operations and will need at least three months’ recovery in Hong Kong. Mark’s former attending physician at the Philippine General Hospital, Dr. Vanessa de Villa, now a clinical assistant professor at the Division of Hepatobiliary/Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation at the Department of Surgery at the Queen Mary Hospital, will be part of the operating team.