10 children receive free open heart surgery

 

 

But just two years ago, it looked like there was no hope for the baby she adopted from a Compassion International project.

When she got Immaculate Nambowa from Compassion, she looked like a normal seven-month-old baby. Nobody could tell that she had a heart defect. Since her biological mother had run mad, Nandi was granted the opportunity to raise baby Immaculate as her own daughter.

 

“Her condition started to change in 2011,” says Nandi, a resident of Makindu in Buikwe District.

She did not show any sign of a developing child; she neither crawled nor sat as other children her age. Though she was feeding well, the baby looked malnourished and often cried uncontrollably.

 

“I took her to Nsambya hospital for treatment. After checking her, the doctors referred us to Uganda Heart Institute, saying my daughter had two holes on the heart,” says Nandi. 

 

The doctors said her daughter needed an operation as soon as possible because she was in a bad state. Being a low income earner, Nandi broke down in the presence of the doctors. The operation was too expensive and she had no idea what she would do to save her baby.

 

Later that year she received the good news that there would be free open-heart surgery at Mulago and the doctors told her that her daughter was among the children to benefit from it. Her prayers had been answered.

 

“The first time she had an operation, her health improved. She started eating food and also growing like other normal children. She could even sit. Last Sunday, the doctors called us to have another operation, and luckily enough, it was successful. Right now, my daughter is three years, and four months. I have faith that she will grow and live longer,” explains Nandi.

 

A team of surgeons from Chain of Hope in the UK with the support from Gift of Life International, together with ten Ugandan doctors have offered free open heart surgery at the Uganda heart Institute Mulago.

 

“The surgical camp started on Monday, and it will end on Sunday. Though this camp is mainly for children with heart defects, this time, we have also operated a 24-year-old woman who has had a heart defect since birth,” Peter Lwabi, a doctor says. 

 

Lwabi adds that if the operation is carried out abroad, it costs $5,000, while in Uganda it costs $10,000. The doctor explains that usually when they have these camps, they focus more on complicated cases, and when the team leaves, the doctors at the Institute carry out the rest of the operations.

 

Rob Raylman, the executive director of GOLI appeals to the Ugandan Government to support the Institute such that surgeries are done in Uganda, instead of people traveling abroad.