Soviet Girl, 5, Flies to U.S. for Surgery for Heart Disorder
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BROWNS MILLS, N. J. — A 5-year-old Soviet girl suffering from a rare heart disorder arrived in the United States Monday for open heart surgery she was unable to obtain at home, hospital officials said.
Maya Shrago, of Odessa, arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York after a 13-hour flight from Moscow. She will undergo surgery at the Deborah Heart and Lung Center for a life-threatening disorder involving a hole between the two lower chambers of her heart.
She was accompanied by her mother, Sofia Shrago, and grandmother, Icca Shrago. They were met by the child’s paternal uncle, Boris Shoiket, an American Telephone & Telegraph Co. employee who emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1975.
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