Baby battles heart defect, needs surgery

Abner Gahaya Cyusa, born with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), a condition where one or more holes are found in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of the heart, needs $15,000 to travel to India for lifesaving surgery.The surgery, which his parents cannot afford, would plug the holes in his heart. This heart defect is one of the most common congenital heart defects. If not corrected, it leads to heart failure and, ultimately, death.Gahaya’s parents, Benjamin Ngarambe and Christine Dusabe, discovered his heart condition when he was only seven months old. That was after the infant suffered various infections and viruses. When his parents consulted a paediatric cardiologist, he recommended open heart surgery in India. The paediatric cardiologist however said that their son couldn’t be put on the waiting list because his condition wasn’t as bad as some of the other patients. According to Ngarambe, the baby has been struggling with a congested chest, breathing complications and fainting spells.Despite his sickly weight of only nine kilograms, the 20-month Gahaya is still a very playful child although he sometimes becomes ill-tempered. Baby Gayaha is presently taking Propanolol medication called every eight hours. According to Dr Muthu Jothi, a Senior Consultant and Paediatric Cardiologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Dehli, India, “the cost of surgery will be approximately $9,000 within 14 days’ stay. Post discharge, another 7 days’ stay in New Dehli is required,” Dr.Muthu says in a letter addressed to the parents. Gahaya’s parents are calling for support, either from the government or other well wishers, in order to fly him to New Delhi. “I am worried it might take a while before our son gets onto the list of those scheduled to have surgery because there’s a long waiting list. My wish is to be able to raise $15,000 for the open heart surgery and other expenses at the hospital, and take him to India,” Ngarambe said. He added that he can’t raise that money on his own and therefore called on the public to join hands with his family in order to save his only child. Ngarambe, 34, runs a small business

National

Baby battles heart defect, needs surgery