A Haitian man will have a 12-millimeter tumor growing in his mouth removed for a third and final time thanks to a group of Warren residents.
And they need your help.
Dr. Keith Price, his daughter Julie Price, Jeffrey McKown, Maggie Birgel and Steve Colvin traveled to Haiti last August to help the Haitian Connection Network prepare a new building used to offer two-year online university courses for students.
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Port-au-Prince resident Daniel Smith, Dr. Keith Price of Warren and Haitian Connection Network Executive Director Kristen Hertzog.
"We went down there on a trip to build desk consoles, just set up the area to have it ready for the fall students," Price said.
HCN is headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., and offers students computer science and business administration classes completely free in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with curriculum provided through the University of the People, headquartered in Pasadena, Calif.
While working in Haiti, Price learned of Daniel Smith, a student at HCN who has had two unsuccessful surgeries to remove a tumor that has grown in his mouth since 1997.
Dr. Price was able to arrange for Smith to have the tumor removed at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia for free, including pre- and post-operative procedures, numerous surgeries, reconstruction and medication.
All Daniel needs to do is raise funds for airfare, transportation, housing, visa and passport fees, totaling nearly $4,000.
"In 1997, a strange and painful tumor starting growing in side by left jaw, and doctors said I must have surgery. My parents did not have money to pay the surgery, but because I was an honor student at the Baptist Mission School they paid for the surgery at the Baptist Hospital. For a period of time the tumor was gone," Daniel said in a written statement on the HCN website. "In 2002, the same tumor started growing back, this time faster than before. This time I went to a small mission hospital. My parents and other people collected money to pay for the surgery. Once again, the tumor was cut out of my mouth."
Donations can be made online at www.haitianconnectionnetwork.org under the "Donate Now" link where a note should be made on the donation page as "Daniel Smith".
A donation can also be made by check to "The Connection Network Inc." with "Daniel Smith" in the memo
Daniel's estimated recovery time is anywhere from two to six months, partly due to the fact that bone from his leg will be grafted onto his jaw, Price said.
"I just think it was God's hand who put my dad down there, who's a doctor," Price said.