Dear Sir,
Today, 28th October 2019 makes it exactly three years that the congenital heart disease of my daughter, Bright Etame was surgically corrected in the US with the support of the Rotary Gift of Life. It is a thing of joy to let you know that Bright Etame is doing wonderfully well in good health.
If not for God and the Rotary Gift of Life, Bright Etame would have been no more, she would have been forgotten by now. To us, we will continue to express our gratitude to you and everyone who had made it possible for my daughter to overcome the life threatening congenital heart disease. There is no expression or amount of words that could be used to say our appreciation and how grateful we are. Your intervention was indeed a great one that will forever be remembered.
I want to acknowledge with deep thanks your moral support, physical help and financial assistance. I also want to appreciate the management and members of staff of Maria Ferari children hospital Valhalla, NY for their hospitality. Many thanks to Dr. Sett for his professionalism, tolerance,humility and the perfect understanding he demonstrated before, during and after the surgery.
I also want to say a big thank you to my fantastic and wonderful host family, Frank Tripodi and Bernadette Tripodi for the loving affection they had for us. They promised not to forget us and they have lived up to their promise. The support they give us from time to time have added great values to our lives.
Again, I wish to appreciate Babatunde Onibode, the founder of the Onibode foundation for his assistance. Once again, I would really like to thank you all from the core of my heart. It is our prayers that the ALMIGHTY GOD should continue to bless you all.
Thank you,
Jonathan Michael Etame
Rob Raylman is the Chief Executive officer for Gift of Life International. He assumed this role in 2008.
Rob is a life-long resident of New York State. He graduated Hobart College in 1984 with a BS in Political Science. Over the years, he worked for US Senator Alfonse D’Amato and held the position of Vice President for Browning-Ferris Industries (at the time, the second largest international solid waste company in the world). In 2008, Rob created the position of CEO for Gift of Life International. Since then, he was visited 38 countries on 5 continents to build the Gift of Life Global Network of 84 affiliates. During Rob’s tenure with Gift of Life International, 30 affiliates have been created while over 35,000 children have received care for their heart defects.
Rob focuses on strategically building bridges between Gift of Life programs, foreign Governments, Rotary Clubs and Districts, like-minded organizations and hospital administrations in order to address the Global Crisis of congenital heart defects.
