Xiaohua had Ventricular Septal Defect, a hole in the right ventricle of her heart. She was already 13; medical doctors said she would only live to be about 20.

Xiaohua's family had known about her congenital heart disease (CHD) since she was 7 years old, but with the humble living they made by coaxing wheat and other crops from the dry, parched land of Gansu, China, the necessary surgery expenses would have required 10 years worth of their income. It was 10 more years of money they couldn't afford - 10 more years of waiting that Xiaohua couldn't afford.

Xiaohua's condition was not untreatable. On the contrary, her CHD requires what is considered one of the simpler cardiac surgeries. If Xiaohua had been operated on earlier, the chances of a successful surgery were almost 99 percent; after the surgery, she would have been completely normal, with no lingering symptoms at all. Instead, she tired easily during even the simplest everyday activities, such as walking. Her lips tinted with blue whenever she did any work, and breathing was painful. Xiaohua was more susceptible to other diseases and caught colds frequently, another symptom of poor blood circulation. Additionally, she was shorter than other 13-year-old girls because her faulty heart stunted her rate of growth and development. Xiaohua desperately needed the heart surgery, but there was no money; her parents could do nothing but wait for time to take their child away.

When Angel Heart International (AHI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children with CHD in China and other developing countries, met Xiaohua in a local clinic, the volunteers decided to follow up with a visit to her home. During a two-hour drive along an unpaved, muddy road, AHI was introduced to one of the many difficulties Xiaohua's family had had to deal with in their daily lives: the road was so unserviceable that their car got stuck.

When they finally reached the house, the volunteers were warmly greeted by all the family members. After the accompanying doctor performed a preliminary checkup on Xiaohua and assessed the severity of her condition, AHI volunteers reviewed her family's financial status and discussed the best available treatment. Little by little, we learned their story.

Her dad, ardently devoted to his daughters, had continued to send both Xiaohua and her older sister to school, hoping against hope that his youngest child could still have a chance at a happy future. Despite all obstacles, they were both exceptional students; Xiaohua shyly presented a composition she had written at school, words carefully inscribed on the yellowed sheets of a small notebook.

A rough interpretation translates:

Like many of the other first AHI family visits, the willingness to personally understand each child's situation established a deep mutual trust between the family and Angel Heart members. We came to know them on a deeper level, beyond their faces and names, familiarizing ourselves with the children's personal accounts and lives. It was in this way that we became acquainted with Xiaohua's special story.

"When spring comes, the earth wakes up. Tree leaves sprout while flowers begin to blossom. Swallows fly from the south, singing enchanting songs and lovely tunes. I love the feeling of spring. I love the green little grass of spring.

On the hill, there's a spot of green grass. They're full of spirit, full of infectious vitality. When spring comes, they cover Mother Earth. I look, carefully: the shoots are fresh green, the essence of beauty and life. And I lie on the grass, touch it with my hands; it is so soft. When a gust of wind whisks by, the grass dances with delight. Watching them makes me feel so happy and content.

Some people say grass is too weak, too delicate. They never realized that it can be found everywhere: on the mountains, in the valleys, on the hills, on the yellow earth. They use their vibrant green bodies to decorate Mother Earth. Look, they lower their head and converse with her.

Little grass, I want to be like you, contributing to the motherland, not for money, not for fame, but for the idea of sheer perseverance in even the toughest circumstances."

On June 25, 2008, Xiaohua's patience and determination were rewarded when she successfully underwent a surgical operation for her CHD. She and her family had arrived at the hospital a few days preceding the surgery, and Dr. Shouyan Lee, the head of AHI, talked with them for hours on end, lending an ear and giving constant encouragement when they were anxious. Right before Xiaohua was rolled into the operation room, volunteers arrived to meet the family and offer support, supplying comfort to both the children and the parents. Dr. Lee and two volunteers from the United States accompanied Xiaohua during the entire operation. After the one-and-a-half-hour surgery, they and the surgeons emerged smiling to greet the anxiously waiting family. The operation was a success. When they broke the happy news, Xiaohua's sister rushed out of the hospital and very quietly began to cry.

As Xiaohua was wheeled out an hour later to the Intensive Care room, volunteers vigilantly watched as nurses placed her on the bed, abating the fears of the family who could not enter the room to be with her.

After the surgery, Xiaohua needs at most a week to recuperate before she can go back home and back to school. AHI volunteers check up on her almost daily, always carrying little gifts; to Xiaohua, they bring simple treasures such as fruits she has never seen before, new clothes she has never been able to own, and informative and amusing books she has never had the opportunity to read.

Xiaohua is brave as she smiles at the AHI volunteers who are holding her hand and talking softly with her parents. Dr. Lee urgently speaks on the other side of the room with the father of another child, Ding Xiao Yien, about the importance of education. Like Xiaohua, Ding was able to receive her heart surgery through AHI. Unlike Xiaohua, however, Ding would have to work on the fields with her father again, unable to attend school. After a lengthy conversation, Dr. Lee finally persuades Ding's father; Ding Xiao Yien will now also go to school.

I am a 16-year-old volunteer in AHI and, unlike many of the other members, I've only been a part of this project for about a year. However, even within this short period of time, I've grown to cherish this organization and its mission. AHI was created by an amazing man who not only had the love and patience to visit each child and spend most of his life on planes traveling between the United States and China, but also the ability to influence every person he came in contact with on both continents. When I traveled to Gansu this year and watched Xiaohua's operation, one doctor told me, "Every time Dr. Lee comes here, it's as if our spirits are reborn."

All I did was listen, learn, and write this story. The stories I record for this organization are not of the impoverished houses I witnessed when I visited these families, but of the happiness and hope AHI brought to the "little grass" of their lives. I write this with love because Xiaohua's story is of love.

As all Angel Heart International's stories are of love.


Follow-up: 2-11-2009

Lan Xiaohua, a 13-year-old girl who had received open-heart surgery on June 25, 2008, had been recovering at home for eight months when she arrived at Gansu Province People's Hospital with her father on February 11 for a check-up. We exchanged heartfelt handshakes, while Xiaohua continuously thanked the AHI volunteers, even happily posing for pictures with Ding Xiaoyan. Currently in 5th grade and receiving excellent grades in her class, Lan Xiaohua tells us that she in now able to participate in P.E. along with her classmates. In addition, she is for once able to persevere through her studies, no matter how strenuous or difficult the coursework is. Before the surgery, she had often been overtaken by bouts of exhaustion and would be thus unable to complete the homework assignments. Now, however, whether it's running, jumping, or helping her parents on the farm, Lan Xiaohua remains healthy and robust doing activities that were once impossible for her. She thanks Angel Heart for all the help they have given her and her family, and she promises to repay the kindness shown to her by studying and working diligently and helping other people. The young girl who wrote the inspiring composition "I Love the Little Grass of Spring" is now able to pursue her ambitions and to become the strong, fearless grass she once could only admire.