BEACON RECORD The Village
CO M PL E T E
E Y E C ARE
FO R T H E Specia lizing in thcountry ENTIRE FAMILY Mount Sinai • Miller Place • Sound Beach • rocky Point • ShorehaM • Wading river • leiSure november 12, 2015
volume 31, no. 16
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‘Through Our Eyes’ opens at the LIM Also: ‘Bridge of Spies’ review, Mr. Fezziwig at Theatre Three, modern sculpture book review
PAge B1
Walking with purpose
Miller Place TA hosts charity event to raise money for drug awareness
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Local volunteers have a heart Suffolk County Rotary’s work, 40 years strong, adds decades to girl’s life By elana gloWatz
A 4-year-old girl from Kosovo is recovering after a lifesaving heart operation on Long Island, thanks to the work of local volunteers. It took a village to support Uerda Zena. Rotary groups throughout Suffolk, including large support from the Rocky Point Rotary, lent a hand to the girl and her mother, Barbara, through the Gift of Life program, which works to provide such stateside heart procedures to children from around the globe. Uerda’s Nov. 4 surgery to repair a hole in her heart the size of a nickel was a milestone effort that celebrated the Rotary program’s 40th anniversary.
The atrial septal defect closure performed on Uerda at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn will add 60 or more years to the little girl’s life, Port Jefferson Rotary member Debbie Engelhardt explained, but the surgery was not available in her home nation. Engelhardt, who is also the director of the Comsewogue Public Library, said more than 19,000 children from dozens of countries have received lifesaving surgeries since the Gift of Life program was born in Suffolk County four decades ago and expanded through Rotary International. Rotary groups in the county are still going strong with Gift of Life, which is doubling up its HeART continued on page A10
Photos from Debbie engelhardt
at top, uerda zena colors at Mount Sinai heritage diner before her procedure last week. above, the medical team, including dr. levchuck second from right, surrounds mom Barbara zena.