COUPLE HELP HEAL CHILDREN : FUND FOR CARE SET UP AFTER SON'S DEATH.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer Two years ago last week, Canyon Country resident Debbie Luck lost her 11-year-old son, Christopher Kipp Turner, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Instead of grieving, she and her husband, Graham, celebrate their son's life by supporting Healing the Children, a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that provides medical care for seriously ill children from all over the world. Since December, the two have helped pay medical expenses of children with heart defects through a trust fund established April 12, 1994, after Kipp's death. ``Because my son is no longer here, these children will be here,'' Debbie Luck said. ``To me that's the way to remember Kipp and keep his memory alive.'' Around Christmastime, the pair paid for the surgery of a 3-year-old Ecuadorean boy with a heart condition. Now the couple are helping 2-year-old Julio Munoz of Guatemala, who arrived in Santa Clarita on Thursday with a rare condition called tricuspid atresia tricuspid atresia n. The congenital absence of the normal tricuspid orifice. tricuspid atresia Cardiology A rare congenital heart disease characterized by obstruction of blood flow from the right atrium to the right , in which part of the heart is malformed mal·formed adj. Abnormally or faultily formed. . Chris Boyer, a board member of Healing the Children, is watching Julio, who cannot walk and whose poor circulation gives him a bluish blu·ish also blue·ish adj. Somewhat blue. blu  ish·ness n. hue. Without surgery, the boy will die. ``This is my sickest child,'' said Boyer, who has cared for five ill children sponsored by the organization. Julio is scheduled to undergo an echocardiogram ech·o·car·di·o·gram n. A visual record produced by echocardiography. Echocardiogram A non-invasive ultrasound test that shows an image of the inside of the heart. today at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a world-renowned hospital located in Los Angeles, California. History Cedars-Sinai is the result of a merger in 1961 between two major Los Angeles hospitals, Cedars of Lebanon and Mount Sinai Home for the Incurables, with Steve Broidy as in Los Angeles to determine if he is a suitable surgery candidate. ``The right side of his heart is not developed, and we must do an echocardiogram,'' said Alfredo Trento, a pediatric pediatric /pe·di·at·ric/ (pe?de-at´rik) pertaining to the health of children. pe·di·at·ric adj. Of or relating to pediatrics. thoracic surgeon at the hospital who is volunteering his time to do the surgery. The Lucks are using the trust fund to pay for the operation, which usually runs about $100,000 but has been reduced to about $10,000. Luck, who adopted two children last year, said she hopes her efforts prevent the pain she experienced when she lost Kipp. ``If I can ever save a parent from what we went through, I'll do it,'' she said. Healing the Children ``is something near and dear to us. It's our ministry.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color in SAC edition only) Chris Boyer, center, ofHealing the Children holds Julio Munoz as Kylen Plummer, left, and Debbie Luck try to calm the crying, ailing boy. John Lazar/Special to the Daily News |
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