Dr Beat Richner, the founder of the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals, has died at the age of 71. Dr Richner was born on March 13, 1947, and died at 2:45am yesterday in Zurich. Dr Richner set up the first hospital in 1992 and oversaw them until 2017, when he stepped down due to a serious medical condition.

 

“Dr Richner leaves behind a legacy deserving admiration,” a statement from the Kantha Bopha Foundation said yesterday. “Afflicted by a serious illness, he left Cambodia in 2017 and returned to his native Zurich where he spent the last months of his life.”

 

“He left everything behind to answer the call of Norodom Sihanouk, who asked him to rebuild the children’s hospital in Phnom Penh, destroyed during the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge,” it added. The first Kantha Bopha hospital was inaugurated in Phnom Penh by former King Norodom Sihanouk in September 1992. The hospital was named after King Sihanouk’s daughter, who died from leukaemia.

 

read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50531944/dr-beat-richner-dies-at-age-of-71-2/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 10/09

RIP and goodbye to a real gentleman, humanitarian and a hero.