There are thousands of children with undiagnosed heart defects waiting for someone to find them to save their lives. On our inaugural trip to Lebanon, Cardiac Alliance met a child who traveled from West Africa to southern Lebanon in search of a definite diagnosis and hopefully life-saving surgery. How was is that four-year-old Emmanuel, or …
From West Africa to Lebanon – In Search of a Fix for a Broken Heart Read More »
Artur is was born a fighter. Artur was born on the 1st of September in Luhansk, the easternmost city of Ukraine. Luhansk has been under the control of the separatist rebel group since 2014, and is known as “Luhansk People’s Republic.” This city was nearly destroyed by the war in 2014 and many public services are …
Two brothers, Four heart defects. In 2012, we met Abdul, a Libyan boy who was born with four heart defects, called Tetralogy of Fallot. Dr Kathleen Fenton operated on Abdul alongside Libyan pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr Wejdan Abou Amer. Because his heart defects were diagnosed late, Abdul was very sick following his surgery and remained …
Recognizing that congenital heart disease requires lifelong care, Novick Cardiac Alliance continues to return to our partner sites multiple times per year over several years, because of children like Ahmed. Dr. Novick first met Ahmed in 2010, when he was 5 years old. Ahmed was born in Nasiriyah, Iraq with a complex heart defect. Similar …
Narjis was born in Baghdad, Iraq in October 2016. When she was about two weeks old, her parents Akar and Nor Maseer noticed she was breathing fast. They took her to the doctor and an echocardiogram showed she had two holes in her heart, an atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect. The doctor gave …
Hasen sits in his grandmother’s arms, bored and making a terrible fuss. “He was born with three holes in his heart.” His grandmother tells us what we’ve already seen on the ultrasound scan. She was tired, weary. The strain of life and her grandson’s heart problems are nearly too much to bear. Hasen was supposed …
Jobs disappeared. That’s what drove Yaqin’s family from Mosul. It was 2014 and the early days of ISIS in the city. Life was beginning to get difficult—the rules for living changed, tightened, but it was still manageable, except for the fact that paid work became scarce. Yaqin’s father couldn’t support his family, so they made …
She Escaped ISIS, Now She Survived A Life-Threatening Heart Defect Read More »
Every mom’s heart aches when her child is sick. It’s so hard to see them suffer and not know what’s going on, or how to help. For some moms it’s extra hard. When Yossef came down with the flu at two months old, he was taken to see a doctor. The doctor diagnosed not only …
How You Ended A Mother’s Desperate Search For Surgery Read More »
When Falah closes his eyes, he sees himself high above the clouds, in the cockpit of a fighter jet. When he imagines his future self, he is a pilot who helps to defend his country from the forces which seek to destroy. But today Falah is laying in his hospital bed recovering from the surgery …
Before Surgery, Falah Was Falling Behind—Not Anymore Read More »
Sometimes living takes you by surprise. Zahraa was in the step-down unit when we asked what her hopes are for the future. Today is just the first day after her surgery, but she is already well enough to smile at silly jokes. She is relaxed in her bed, and turned down the pain medication our …
