Girl With Hole In The Heart Undergoes Successful Surgery

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When Mrs Patience Trust sauntered into our newsroom early November, 2010, it was glaring that she  was troubled. The joy of motherhood was fast fading before her eyes. Her baby was, little Honour,  who was just a few months old, was being snatched from her by a heart related disease caused by  Down Syndrome.

She told the story of how the baby who had grown very thin, dark and pale, had been in that state  for some time. She had visited several hospitals and finally went to the Lagos State University  Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) where she was told that her baby had a hole in the heart and the surgery  could only be done in India.

Patience needed financial assistance for the trip and medical expenses and wanted the public to  come to her aid. And they did. Now the baby is hale and hearty.

P.M.NEWS kept publishing the story and responses started pouring in with majority of those who  donated to the course preferring to remain anonymous. P.M.NEWS also introduced her to the Down  Syndrome Association of Nigeria where help finally came as the NGO assisted her to the Narayana  Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangolore, India

“When I got to the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria, they told me that a set of children just  came back from India and that I should just hold on and that my baby’s name would be on the next  available list of children.

“I continued to get in touch till November when they called me to come for the passport and all the  other documents that we needed to proceed on the journey. They said they had got people that would  support. We left this country 24 November, 2010 and got to India the next day,” she explained.

While she awaited the invitation of the NGO, she confessed that she was depressed, but kept praying  and hoping that her baby would not die.

“So when they finally called me, I knew it was well and we embarked on the journey. When we got  there, we consulted the doctor who told us that the operation could be done. The operation was  successful and the baby was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and when she came out after some  days, she was what they told me she would be —a brand new baby.

Comparing the medical services in India to that in Nigeria, she described the doctors in the Indian  hospital as real professionals who knew how to handle patients and their family members.

“After everything, I could not believe that this was the same baby that people were scared to  carry. Before now, most people were scared to carry the baby thinking that the baby would die in  their hands, but now everybody wants to carry her,” she said.

She could not hide her joy when she again walked into the P.M.NEWS office again last week. This  time, she was there to thank the organisation and all those who responded to her cries for saving  her daughter’s life.

“I want to say a very big thank you to P.M.NEWS and you (talking to the reporter) for linking me  with the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria. I also want to thank the NGO and pray that it should  continue to get more support from kind-hearted Nigerians so that the staff of the Association would  continue with the good work and give life to children. I am also very grateful to everyone who  assisted me financially,” she added.

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