Three-year-old Sree Mankhin returned to his home in Bangladesh Dec. 5 after an open-heart surgery at Loma Linda University Medical Center, a Seventh-day Adventist operated institution. Doctors told Sree’s father, Jeshio, that Sree would die if he didn’t receive the surgery, an operation that is not available in Bangladesh.

“I’m deeply grateful to the persons who helped my son and I to go to America, and to Loma Linda, who made such an important heart operation on him, saving his life,” Jeshio says with a broken voice.

“This sweet youngster and his dad added measurably to the holiday spirit at Loma Linda University,” says Dr. Bailey. “We’re delighted to know them and to be of service as part of our global mission. We pray they live long and well.”

Sree was diagnosed with a congenital double hole in his small heart. He was flown to LLUMC where Dr. Leonard L. Bailey, MD, performed the operation Nov. 19. Bailey, a world-renowned surgeon, is professor and chairman of LLU’s Department of Surgery.

“Sree looks good and I even got a smile and a cuddle,” says Alyna Taylor, patient administrative assistant at LLUMC, several days after the surgery. “He is running around and full of energy that he has never known before. He says he is happy because he is in no pain and not crying.”