Sundar First in Fiji for Procedure

Sumintra Sundar was among the 25 patients who recently received a new lease of life after a successful laser treatment to remove kidney stones at Labasa Hospital.

The week-long treatment was provided by a team of medics from Friends of Fiji Health (FOFH) from New Zealand last week.

The 60-year-old from Waidamudamu, Labasa, had stones in her kidney since 2017.

The mother of three children was waiting to be seen by an overseas medical team since treatment of kidney stones with a laser and minimally invasive flexible telescopic cameras is not available in the public or private hospitals in Fiji.

Surgery in public hospitals had been previously performed utilising big cuts compared to completely internal surgery now available at Labasa thanks to the FOFH.

Ms Sundar was the first person in Fiji to have the procedure, which was performed by team leader Dr Imran Ali.

After the surgery she was seen enjoying time with her grandchildren and husband, Ram Sundar at home

“I am really thankful to FOFH for carrying out my surgery successfully,” Ms Sundar said.

“I was afraid that the doctors might cut me open, but I was really pleased that the procedure involved no cuts at all,” she said.

Dr Ali said that he was a proud son of Fiji and was as excited as Ms Sundar in being able to offer the procedure to every day Fijians on behalf of FOFH.

FOFH is a New Zealand registered charity organisation established in July 2010.

Its primary purpose is to form teams of specialists to travel to Fiji and provide medical treatment to underserved communities in Fiji.

The team conducted free operations over a period of five days.

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