Life Saving Operation for West Timor Girls

Two teenage girls from the remote Belu Province of West Timor will be arriving in Newcastle today for life-saving operations at John Hunter Hospital to remove aggressive tumours from their jaws.

The girls were identified as requiring urgent health care in March this year by a team of doctors and nurses from Newcastle, led by surgeon Dr Bob Sillar and sponsored by the humanitarian organisation OSSAA (Overseas Specialist Surgical Association of Australia).

“The girls are suffering from aggressive tumours in their jaws and without treatment these tumours would ultimately choke the girls to death,” Dr Sillar said.

“Unfortunately there is very limited healthcare available in the areas where the girls live and it would be impossible for them to receive the treatment at home. There are virtually no specialist doctors in West Timor and most medical services are provided by junior doctors doing a necessary rural rotation working in community health clinics, as well as a few local general practitioners.

“Theses doctors, despite their inexperience and lack of resources, are pivotal in the delivery of health care and it is one of the aims of our aid trips to enhance their skills.”

Dr Sillar has been working with the staff at John Hunter and John Hunter Children’s Hospital who have agreed to donate their time and expertise to perform the life-saving surgeries on the girls.

“We were thrilled by the generosity of staff and management of John Hunter and John Hunter Children’s Hospital who have willingly donated their time and facilities to allow these surgeries to be performed out of normal hours so that it doesn’t interfere with the normal functioning of the hospital,” Dr Sillar.

“Their enthusiasm to help and ensure the girls have a healthier future ahead of them is humbling.”

The cost and logistics of getting the girls to Newcastle has been undertaken by ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) who have a long history of bringing children to Australia for medical care. Without ROMAC’s help the surgeries would not have been possible.

“On behalf of the girls I would like to thank everyone involved in this life-changing miracle. I know they are truly thankful for giving them this gift,” Dr Sillar said.

*OSSAA has been raising funds to send visiting medical teams to some of Australia’s closest and poorest neighbours in East Timor and the Eastern Islands of Indonesia since 1991. The Newcastle teams have mainly visited the small public hospitals in the areas as well as hospitals run by the Catholic SSpS order of nuns

Contact: Sharna McCarthy

Phone: 4921 4501