July 12, 2023
Matthew 19:14.
“Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
I pen this brief letter today on what would have been my only son's 51st birthday had he not succumbed to the strain and pressure of his work in Singapore last June and died unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest at only 49 yrs.
The heartbreak and grief have been unbearable ever since.
Last week Dr Ludawane of the National Referral Hospital appealed for funds to transfer 6 children from the NRH to a specialist hospital where they could expect to get life saving heart surgery and care from a team of heart surgeons and cardiac specialist due to visit the Fiji hospital in early July.
I wrote my own appeal in support of Dr Ludawane's own appeal.
The cost for air travel for the children and a guardian each was quoted as being high.
If the appeal fails and the children cannot get the surgery, they need the risk to their young lives is believed to be high.
Will we then see the parents and relatives of those children suffer the loss of their precious children as I do still for my own son?
t seems to me unforgivable that the children in urgent need should not be helped.
My feelings on the matter have been much debated and correspondents from the SI have raised with me the "unfairness" of the medical benefits available to serving MP's and said their benefits are not shared equally to benefit sick children.
Other more radical proposals have suggested NRH staff staging a one-day protest strike citing the medical needs of sick children going unheeded.
I very much pray the sick children needing to be evacuated to Fiji to save their young lives will be met in good time.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
