PRESS RELEASE
New York man seeks funding help to save son’s life
After miraculously finding a kidney donor matching his son’s rare blood type, this Rotary club member and former Nanuet Chamber of Commerce president reaches out for help.
Thiells, NY—A New York man, who has given back to the New York Rockland County community for years, is now asking for help to save his only son’s life.
Thiells resident and Allstate Insurance Agency Owner Timothy Chhim is known in the area for his involvement and charity work — he was the first Nanuet Chamber of Commerce president; member of the Nanuet/West Nyack Rotary Club; Napoleon Hill Foundation Certified Instructor; past chairman Brooklyn Watt Samakki Dhamikkara, Buddhist Temple; and co-author of Adversity to Advantage.
Chhim started the website KidneyForAnthonyChhim.com to tell his 31-year-old son’s story.
“Anthony Achariya Chhim (“Tony”), needs a kidney transplant,” he said, explaining Tony’s kidneys failed in 2010, prompting Tony’s mother Neang to offer one of hers.
More than 93,000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS).
However, five difficult years later, Tony’s body rejected her kidney. Yet again, another brave person stepped up, this time, a close family friend, Taylor Tagg.
Despite finding a willing kidney donor with a matching rare blood type, the Chhims find themselves facing another hurdle.
“As happy as we are, we are not out of the woods yet. We may have a donor but we are short on funds to cover [Tony’s] traveling, lodging and recovery expenses,” said Chhim. “We are expecting the expenses to be more than $10,000 and we are pledging that the unused money will be donated to a Kidney Foundation or a not-for-profit organization on behalf of the donor and Tony.”
He started the YouCaring crowdfunding website on April 6, which has so far raised $2,805 of the $10,000 goal.
Chhim is not a stranger to hardships in life as he survived the Khmer Rogue Genocide in Cambodia, avoiding the execution block three times. However, that experience rivals that of what he feels now over his son’s chance at life.
“It devastates me to watch my son suffer,” said Chhim. “Though the dialysis does the job of keeping him alive, a transplant would offer him the ability to live a longer, healthier and more normal life. It would allow him to follow his dreams, return to his passion of creating video games and to run his company Quantum Imagination Studios. A new and functional kidney would also give him time with his family and friends, something many of us take for granted.”
Donations are accepted through the YouCaring crowdfunding website https://www.youcaring.com/anthonyachhim-794666 Further details of the Chhims’ journey are at KidneyForAnthonyChhim.com
Photo Captions:
Tony Chhim and his 6-month-old nephew Jace
Taylor Tagg (left) is donating his kidney to Tony Chhim
Contact:
Timothy Chhim, timothychhim@aol.com, 845-642-3232
Kidney For Anthony Chhim 