Past President Pat Caruso – Talking on the Gift of Life

Tonight several Newtown Rotarians are braving this brutally cold weather and taking the train down to New York City to meet a family from Belize whose 3 1/2 year daughter, Genesis, is in serious need of a heart operation.

Logistics have been coordinated through the Rotary Club at JFK Airport to meet the family and get them into the City for a Gift of Life event before they all return to Newtown Connecticut to stay with Immediate Past President Mike Toll and his wife Monica.

Genesis has a hole in her heart, has congenial heart disease and she requires a specialized operation that wasn’t obtainable in her country. At 3 1/2 years old, she is just 22 lbs and her prognosis would be dire without this specialized care.

The Newtown Connecticut Rotary Club and the Gift of Life group have worked out an arrangement with The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore where she will get the operation and the care that she needs for a donation of $6,000 by the Newtown Rotary Club, which is a modest amount in comparison to the normal ‘rack rate’ of such specialized care.

She will visit the with cardiologist next week and the operation will probably take place the following week, followed by 6-8 weeks of recovery time before Genesis and her family can return home.

Past President Pat Caruso, who is passionate about the good that Rotary and The Gift of Life does, is the contact person for this initiative. The entire Newtown Rotary Club is laser focused on helping people within their community and around the world.