please help...

I just learned of the sad condition that my friend and blockmate, Vida, is now in. She recently just got married and their unborn baby is in very grave danger. Please read this for more information: Also, visit the project's site: http://projectsavannah.multiply.com

Our newlywed friends, Vida (nee Toledo) and Brian Samson are expecting their first baby. However, last July 2008, doctors discovered through ultrasound that the baby, Savannah Araceli Breeda Thaddeus Toledo Samson, has a life-threatening disease called congenital diaphragmatic hernia. It is a rare condition that occurs 1 out of 2,200 to 5,000 live births, in which the baby's diaphragm, the organ that separates the chest cavity (which contains the heart and lungs) from the abdominal cavity (which contains the stomach, liver and intestines), fails to develop completely. The under-developed diaphragm leaves a hole that allows the intestines and the stomach to enter the chest cavity, affecting the development of the lungs. After birth, the lungs may collapse and Savannah may not be able to breathe.

According to Vida's doctor, if left untreated, approximately 75 to 90% of babies born with this condition do not survive.

But with your help, there is hope. Savannah must undergo an operation called intrauterine fetal surgery which can only be performed in the United States. The cost of this surgery is at least US$100,000.00. This is the only procedure that can raise her chance of survival.

We, Vida and Brian's high school friends, are organizing Project Savannah a fund-raising drive that would hopefully raise enough funds to cover medicine, travel taxes, and basic daily needs. Part of this project is a benefit concert, Rocking the Cradle: A Benefit Concert for Savannah, details of which would be uploaded to this site soon.

We are under tremendous time constraints, as Vida needs to have the operation sometime in September, or in her 7th month of pregnancy. The Philippine Airlines Foundation has generously offered to sponsor the couple's air fare to and from San Francisco (excluding tax); there is also another foundation that can possibly sponsor the US operation. Vida and Brian have approached other foundations as well and are currently awaiting their replies.

If you would like to donate funds you may do so through Vida's savings account:

Land Bank of the Philippines, UP Diliman Branch
VIDA LOURDES TP TOLEDO
SA# 3076-0324-74

To notify us of your donation please email us at projectsavannah@gmail.com.

Also, any help that you can offer, particularly with the fund-raising concert (we are in need of sponsors, a venue, and bands to play), would be most welcome.

To know more about the campaign, please contact KL at +63 916 780 2094 or Dino at +63 905 357 7284. You may also e-mail us at projectsavannah@gmail.com.

Thanks very much.