This is the #SuccessStory of how 1-year-old Mehreen fought valiantly to overcome Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), a threat to her very young life. She was diagnosed with a CHD called a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). That left her entire family extremely distraught and looking for a way to fulfil their dream of being able to live a normal life together.
VSD is a common heart defect that’s present at birth. There is a hole that occurs in the septum (wall) that separates the heart’s lower ventricles (chambers) and allows blood to pass from the left to the right side of the heart. The oxygen-rich blood then gets pumped back to the lungs instead of out to the body, causing the heart to work harder.
Being fully engaged in the search for Mehreen’s treatment, her family eventually found their way to Dr. Asim Khan, a renowned Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon who is also a PCHF Medical Advisory Board Member. As the family needed financial support for the required life-saving procedure known as a VSD Closure, Dr. Asim referred them to us.
Mehreen’s father works as a labourer and is the sole breadwinner in the family, which includes his wife and 3 children. He made it clear to us that with his limited resources, there was no way he could afford his daughter’s treatment. In a plea for help, he was looking to us to ease his family’s anguish by saving his daughter’s precious life.
With our world-class facilities and remarkable donor base, that is exactly what we set out to do. Our organization has tremendous experience saving lives of children born with CHD, the world’s most common birth defect. For us, Mehreen was to be no different. The funds for the planned treatment were arranged in practically no time and all other hospital-related formalities were also taken care of.
With our brilliant team of healthcare professionals to carry out the complex heart surgery, one that requires a lot of focus, skill and precision, all that was needed now were the prayers of Mehreen’s loved ones. Throughout the procedure which lasted a few hours, although they were worried beyond measure, they were also praying incessantly.
Thankfully, all the hard work and patience paid off as the surgery turned out to be a resounding success! Mehreen was now what we call a ‘CHD Survivor’. She had a second chance at life, one that her family was also eternally grateful for. They expressed their unparalleled happiness by telling us how satisfied they were with all our facilities, and by wishing us all the very best on the way to achieving our goals.
1 in 100 children are born with CHD, and on our journey to conquering this potentially fatal disease, we hope that these stories inspire even more people to join us so that we can shape a brighter future for deserving patients and their families. As an organization, we are leaving no stone unturned on our mission to ensuring that not a single child born with CHD in Pakistan remains untreated.
You can help further our cause either by donating towards child heart treatment, or the construction of Pakistan’s first dedicated Children’s Heart Hospital & Research Institute (CHHRI) at:
#EveryLifeMattersEveryChildMatters #PCHFNA
#1in100 #CHDAwareness #ConqueringCHD
#Hero4HeartKids #CHDCare4Life #ACHD
#Cardiology #Cardiovascular #Pediatric
#Charity #Zakat #Donate
#CHHRI #CHD
