Lawyer Louis J. Farrah II Helps Save Baby Born with Heart Defect

For this day on which we remember the great loss of life on September 11, 2001, we offer you an inspiring story about a lawyer who has materially helped to save life, specifically the life of an infant in the Dominican Republic who needed surgery to correct a congenital heart defect.

At Legal Blog Watch, Robert Ambrogi reports on Louis J. Farrah II, a lawyer in Lawrence, Massachusetts, who has been staging a campaign to raise money to bring ten-month-old Frank Matos Lopez to the United States for surgery to treat a condition called "blue baby syndrome," in which the flow of oxygen to the organs and skin is restricted.  As a result of Farrah's tireless efforts, the boy, also known as "Baby Frank," has been admitted to Children's Hospital Boston for the life-saving surgery.

The open-heart surgery that Baby Frank needed was not available in the Dominican Republic and his parents could not afford to send him to the United States for the operation.  Farrah worked to arrange for Baby Frank's transportation and visas to enter the United States and contacted cardiologists and hospitals throughout the United States to find surgeons who could perform the surgery.  After learning of Baby Frank's plight and Farrah's work to save him, the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation agreed to pay for the surgery. 

In an August 24, 2008 article, a local newspaper, the North Andover Eagle-Tribune, quotes Baby Frank's aunt, Lillian Marte, also of Lawrence, offering high praise for Louis Farrah: "I don't have the words to thank him.  The things he's done are incredible. He forgets about his own work and is working on this case without even knowing the family."

Such kindness and generosity are impressive.  Thank you, Louis Farrah, for reminding us, your colleagues, of what is highest and best in us.  And Baby Frank, best wishes for a speedy recovery and good health.

By Steve Imparl, guest blogger