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CBS 3
February 7, 2005 4:00 pm US/Eastern

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) More than 170,000 people were killed in the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia. Anchor Alycia Lane meets a local medical student who is going to help those in need.

While thousands are dealing with the tsunami's devastation, Katie Golloto and her husband have a full life, balancing their role as parents, and doctors on the other side of the world. However, when she saw the horrific destruction she felt compelled to help. “You can't help but want to do something, and I think everybody feels that way. I think everybody wants to help,” she told Lane.

Within days she began organizing a month-long trip to Sri Lanka. “Everything fell into place really easily and I think that's what made me realize that it was meant to be,” she said. Convincing their extended family took some time. “They're very supportive but they can't quite understand we have to be the ones to go,” she said, adding, “If everybody thought that way then there wouldn't be anyone over there helping out.”

Together with her husband and two other doctors, the couple will travel to the region this week to treat the sick and help apply for medical grants. Much of the trip is funded by donations Katie has collected. Her husband Mike was a skeptic at first, but says his wife is a hard person to say no to. ”Her smile, that you know she's sincere when she tells you what she's doing and why she needs to do it,” he said.

On the night she met Lane, Katie was holding a fundraiser at a local bar. Golloto says she knows the hardest part will be leaving her kids: “You know these guys are my life…and I just hope that I'm setting a good example for them and the values that are instilled form us going over there will last a lifetime.”

The medical team she has organized is sponsored by the International Medical Health Organization, the Mid-Atlantic Pain Association, the Garrettford Elementary School, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, The Grape Street Pub, and miscellaneous Manayunk businesses.