A woman saved as a child by heart surgery paid for by a stranger now wants to pay it forward through “Mending Kids.” Angie Crouch reports for the NBC4 News at 11 on Sunday.
Naomi Carmona-Morshead was born in 1954 with a congenital heart defect.
A stranger donated money for heart surgery when she was 9 years old.
Today Naomi is a healthy 61-year-old living in Santa Clarita.
In 2009, she and her husband met a little girl from Ecuador named Maria Jose who’d been flown to America for open heart surgery.
The procedure was paid for by a non-profit organization in Burbank called “Mending Kids.”
“I had a deja vu of the time I was 9 years old laying with tubes everywhere,” Carmona-Morshead said.
Naomi said seeing little Maria survive that surgery inspired her to dedicate the rest of her life to raising money to help “Mending Kids” provide surgeries for children around the world.
Naomi decided to climb eight mountains in eight months to raise money for heart surgeries for kids in need.
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In September, Naomi and her husband made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa’s tallest peak.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and the Big Dipper was right in front of me. I had no way to take a picture of it,” Carmona-Morshead said. “I thought, ‘I did climb to the stars to save those little hearts. I did it.'”
Naomi’s fundraising has already saved nine children.
If you’d like to help Naomi raise money or volunteer with the organization, go to www.Mendingkids.Org
