Plucky girl gets rare implant

Star: PETALING JAYA: Yvonne Foong, the 20-year-old who raised her own funds to treat her genetically incurable disease, has become the first Malaysian to have an auditory brainstem implant (ABI).
The only child of a freelance landscape contractor, she suffers from NF2, a rare form of neurofibromatosis – an illness of the nervous system where tumours grow on the hearing nerves and affect a person's ability to hear.
Her Nov 4 surgery in Los Angeles was the fourth major one she had undergone since she was diagnosed with NF2 at the age of 13, according to Subang Jaya state assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng.
She raised RM230,000 on her own to finance her operation and speaks of her experience on her website www.yvonnefoong.com.
Yvonne had a 24-channel, multi-electrode ABI placed in her ear. The ABI is the only hearing aid that is suitable for patients of NF2. Conventional hearing aids do not work on them.
Yvonne is deaf in her right ear and is unable to balance properly. She withdrew into a life of loneliness after NF2 forced her to give up music, ballet and figure skating.
However, instead of giving up on life or asking for handouts, she has worked hard to raise money for her operation by selling T-shirts, organising rock concerts, giving motivational talks and writing a book about living with NF titled I Am Not Sick, Just A Bit Unwell.
True grit won her the Asian Youth Ambassadors’ Most Outstanding Youth of the Year award last year.
Meanwhile, her townsfolk in Subang Jaya have started a fund-raising campaign for Yvonne and will hold their third charity golf tournament in her aid.
They have collected RM16,000 so far, with developer Emko Properties Sdn Bhd donating RM10,000.
The rest came from Lee (RM5,000) and Jackie Yap, whose daughter is a friend of Yvonne’s (RM1,000).
Lee said money from the charity golf event, to be held at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club on Dec 3, would help meet Yvonne’s surgery expenses and also follow-up treatment in Los Angeles.
“I really admire her determination. She has managed to raise so much through her own effort.
“We hope to contribute money to help ease her financial worries and let her concentrate on getting well.”
For details, contact Lee's service centre (tel: 03-8023 6580, fax: 03-8023 6549).