The lockdown on international travel due to the COVID pandemic, unfortunately, meant that ROMAC went into limbo for a short period.

Penny (pictured above with Dad Hola) is 10 years old, and she is from Tonga. Penny is our first ROMAC patient since the Covid 19 pandemic occurred.

She arrived in New Zealand on May 19th and spent 14 days in MIQ, accompanied by her father, to meet New Zealand quarantine requirements. She came to us with severe rheumatic heart disease with severe mitral and aortic regurgitation. On completion of their quarantine period on June 2nd, they were collected by Henderson Rotary Club Member and ROMAC Host Club Co-ordinator Barbara Watt and taken to Ronald MacDonald House.

There was a delay in surgical appointment allocation as NZ hospitals experienced an overload in the paediatric wards with an outbreak of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Penny finally had her surgery on Friday July 26th. She spent eight hours in surgery having repairs on two heart valves and a third valve replaced.

 ROMAC Friends is a wonderful network of caring people who want to support our mission to provide life giving and life changing surgery to children from the Southwest Pacific, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste. The sophisticated surgery and complex nursing care we deliver is not available in the children’s country of residence, so our medical support is central to their good health and future happiness.

By contributing just $100.00 per year, you can become a ROMAC Friend, and join like-minded people who want to help sick children achieve normal and happy lives. You can renew your annual membership automatically, or you can recommit year-by-year. The choice is yours, and you can opt out at the end of any one-year membership period.

Your $100.00 contribution is Tax Deductible in Australia.

We look forward to welcoming you as a ROMAC Friend.