This is the success story of Maleeha, a 6-year-old ‘Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Survivor’. She was diagnosed with a CHD called an Atrial Septal Defect, in which there is a hole that occurs in the septum (wall) that separates the heart’s upper ventricles (chambers).
The hole increases the amount of blood that flows through the lungs. A large, long-standing ASD can damage both the heart and lungs. An ASD is potentially life-threatening and symptoms include breathing difficulties, frequent lung infections, skipped heartbeats etc.
Maleeha and her family are from Sialkot, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan known for its manufacturing and export of various items such as surgical instruments, sports good etc. Around 6 months following her birth, she started experiencing a rapid heartbeat and also had a bout of fever.
After visiting a local hospital and undergoing a thorough medical examination, an echocardiography (ECHO) was recommended. The results of this cardiac ultrasound revealed that Maleeha had a potentially fatal heart condition.
This was absolutely devastating news for her parents and they immediately started enquiring about the next steps. They were told that surgery, which is relatively expensive, was the only option and this would be the start of a long journey ahead.
Maleeha’s father works as a salesman at a shop and solely supports his family of 7. He could not afford the treatment needed to save his child’s life and needed financial support. After around 5 years of searching for treatment options, he was eventually referred to Dr. Salman A. Shah, a renowned Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon.
Dr. Shah is based in Lahore, where our flagship project, Pakistan’s first dedicated Children’s Heart Hospital & Research Institute is being built, and he referred the family to us. Being among the premier organizations in the field of CHD, we were going to do our utmost to help save Maleeha’s life.
After an initial meeting with our team, we were pleased to inform the family that Maleeha’s heart procedure would be fully sponsored by us. We are grateful beyond measure to our generous donor base as without them, this would not be possible. The heart surgery was then scheduled at the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital (ULTH).
With a world-class team of healthcare professionals on board as well, Maleeha’s family was told that she was in the very best of hands. All they had to now was pray for everything to go well and for Maleeha to emerge as a ‘CHD Survivor’.
A few very difficult hours later, we were thrilled to inform them that Maleeha had won the fight for her life by defeating a life-threatening CHD! In the face of unprecedented hardship, she had shown incredible resilience.
Her family members were all overcome with joy and after years of facing CHD, could not wait to start living a normal life together. At the time of discharge, they said that they felt eternally thankful to us and hoped that one day Maleeha would go on to become a doctor to help other deserving children like her.
1 in 100 children are born with CHD, the world’s most common birth defect. We hope that these stories inspire even more people to contribute towards our cause so that we can continue shaping a brighter future for affected children and their families. We are genuinely leaving no stone unturned for them. Every life matters, every child matters.
Join us on our journey to conquering CHD in Pakistan by donating now towards child heart surgeries or the construction of Pakistan’s first dedicated Children’s Heart Hospital & Research Institute at: https://pchfna.kindful.com/
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