A ball which takes place next month in the city will raise funds to finance local surgical teams which travel to Albania to carry out vital surgery.
The fifth annual Irish Friends of Albania Ball takes place on October 10 at the Radisson Hotel. More than 400 guests are expected for this annual celebration fundraiser.
The night will begin with a drinks reception at 7.30pm. Dinner will follow and music for the night will be by the “Legends of Swing”. Ticket prices this year are reduced to €100.
“We look forward to meeting many old and new friends at this event which is our most important fundraiser of the year,” says a spokesperson for Irish Friends of Albania. “Funds are raised to support the visit of surgical teams to Albania.”
The organisation is sending two volunteer surgical teams to work in Albania on October 16. A team of seven under the direction of Mr Alan Hussey and Mr Padraic Regan will work with the staff of the plastic surgery unit to perform microsurgery. This is the first time that this type of surgery is to be performed in Albania.
A team of eight led by Mr Paddy McCann and Mr Jack McCann will work with local staff in the maxillofacial surgery department. This team will operate on patients who need jaw reconstruction, bone grafting and cleft palate repair.
“There are many patients in Albania who badly need these difficult operations. This trip will provide treatment to just a few of these patients but it will also bring the local Albanian medical staff many steps closer to performing these operations themselves.”
