CDF patient transport charity Australia

 
Our Mission Built a platform for Donors around the world to help thousands of Cancer, Chronic Kidney Disease patients and other patients with terminal illnesses with their transportation needs at the time of treatment.
 
Our Vision

Our vision is to extend the fleet of transportation to other Cancer (Units) Hospitals around Sri Lanka as well as offer medical assistance and advice through a team of Medical professionals from all over the World, Provide help to acquire new technology.

Monetary donations to one of the World leaders in Cancer Research – Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in Melbourne Australia.

Our story

In June 2012 renowned actor, public personality and philanthropist, Cyril Dhamawardana was diagnosed with stage 1V lung cancer. Being a non- smoker all his life, this news was a shock to everyone. He endured a series of chemotherapy cycles at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Most of the treatment was given as a day patient. He felt fortunate to receive the treatment with the convenience of travelling in comfort in an ambulance back and forth to hospital.

There were days he felt drained and sick to the core following treatment, the facility of travelling in comfort was a small but significant factor in relieving is pain.

A husband, father and grandfather, Cyril loved living his life to the fullest. Through the highs and lows of his battle with cancer he fought hard to live a normal life, kept working, acting and travelled, his last trip to Sri Lanka was in September 2013 when he visited the main cancer hospital, the only major treatment facility in the whole of the island.

Having witnessed the sad disparity of medical facilities in Sri Lanka and Australia he envisaged to provide a service that gave dignity and comfort to terminally ill patients at a time of great pain and suffering. A facility that extended a helping hand to underprivileged communities experiencing financial hardship due to deep-rooted poverty. Within a year of Cyril Dharmawardana’s sad passing in November 2013 his vision was made a reality by his son Binara who initiated and architected The Cyril Dharmawardana Foundation (CDF), a facility drafted the scale of the program which outlined the benefit to patients, efficiency to the Health System, innovation creating advance medical facilities. What appeared to be an uphill task was established within a year as Sri Lanka’s first non emergency patient transport facility, utilising world class luxury ambulances.

Cyril Dharmawardana’s philanthropic dream and legacy lives on with CDF.

Now Cyril Dharmawardana Foundation is an Australian based non for profit charity organisation which has a primary focus of assisting terminally ill patients (such as cancer, chronic kidney disease etc) with their transportation needs to hospitals and homes free of charge.

This facility currently operates in the Southern and North Central regions of Sri Lanka as well as to the main cancer hospital in the Western Province of Colombo.

CDF has helped to reduce congestion, costs and increased cleanliness in hospitals, as patients prefer to go home to recover after their treatment With ongoing donor support, CDF plans to implement and extend this facility to other major cancer hospitals throughout the country.

CDF President’s Message

There is no greater joy  and purpose in life than helping mankind. As the Dalai Lama wisely quoted “love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”.

Cyril Dharmawardana Foundation has initiated a platform for donors around the world to help thousands of terminally ill patients to be provided with free transportation for treatment and other hospital visits.

This facility is particularly beneficial in the developing countries where the majority of the population is battling financial hardship.

Sri Lanka is the only country in the developing world to implement such an initiative, a proven success which has thousands of patients reaping the benefit of this benevolent facility.

At present continuity and survival of this great service is entirely reliant on the generosity of ongoing donors, charity events and sponsorships.

CDF kindly requests donations to support this compassionate cause for the benefit of underprivileged communities in Sri Lanka.

Assistance for transporting terminally ill patients for treatment and palliative care is accepted as equally important as the traditional charities assisting orphanages, age care and places of worship.

On behalf of Cyril Dharmawardana Foundation I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all donors private and corporate for the invaluable support which has enabled CDF to reach its milestone of stage II.

My sincere appreciation to our staff as well as volunteers for their amazing compassion and dedication to make this a realisation.

We would also like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Sri Lanka’s National Leadership for the unprecedented support, recognition and trust given to Cyril Dharmawardana Foundation.

CDF is the pioneer and the only state of the art Non-Emergency Patient Transport facility in Sri Lanka.

Our vision is to provide this service to every underprivileged patient with terminal illness in Sri Lanka, offering them a glimmer of hope, providing comfort and dignity in their long and exhausting journey to recovery or for those who are desperate for pain free end of life before their last breath.