15 month old Mongolian boy gets gift of life

You could say it's an incredible journey for an incredible gift: a 15-month-old Mongolian boy gets a life-saving heart surgery right here in San Antonio.

Bolor-Erdene, or Borkhuu as he's called, weighs only 15 pounds and struggles to just breathe and eat every day.

"He's a rambunctious child who's limited. He's a child who you can clearly see that he wants to do all types of things that kids his age do, but he has limitations," said Dr. Adil Husain, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital.

Borkhuu had nearly an inch-sized hole in his heart, which doctors say was one of the worst defects they'd seen. It was patched after a four hour surgery Friday. He couldn't have received this treatment at home in Mongolia, so the organization HeartGift San Antonio brought him here and gave him the surgery at no cost to him. This type of operation could cost upwards of $160,000.

Borkhuu's mother is expecting another child any day now, so he made the trip with a guardian, Tuya. She met his family for the first time at the airport. She says they were taking pictures, dressed in their traditional clothes.

"All of them crying, it was so hard to see and they were saying to Borkhuu, 'please come back to me,'" Tuya said.

Borkhuu was resting peacefully Friday afternoon and doctors say he should be back on his feet, running around by early next week. He'll stay in San Antonio with a host family for a few weeks while he recovers, then he'll be able to return home to his family.
source: http://www.woai.com/content/news/newslinks/story/15-month-old-Mongolian-boy-gets-gift-of-life/HOJxT3iMUUW81Vie_EQMOQ.cspx