Iranian immigrant donates $6 million to B.C. hospital

An Iranian immigrant says he gave a record $6-million donation to a children's hospital in B.C. to thank the country that welcomed his family 18 years ago.

Vancouver real estate developer Djavad Mowafaghian's gift is the largest individual donation in the history of the B.C. Children's Hospital. The money will be used to expand the children's cancer clinic.

"I've got enough for one house and my children. The rest, I want to put [aside] for education and health," said the 77-year-old man on Wednesday.

Mowafaghian, who toured the hospital last year after telling officials he wanted to make a sizable donation, said he was struck by the crowded conditions he saw at the hospital.

"It broke my heart to see the crowded, rundown conditions the children had to endure while undergoing painful and difficult treatments," he read from a statement.

Hospital officials say the clinic, which is used by as many as 60 patients on a daily basis, will be more than doubled in size.

Mowafaghian, who was a general contractor in Iran during the rule of the Shah, left the country following Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution.