This is the success story of Aleena, a 5-year-old ‘Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Survivor’. She was diagnosed with a CHD called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), an unclosed hole in the aorta.
Before a baby is born, the fetus’s blood does not need to go to the lungs to get oxygenated. The Ductus Arteriosus is a hole that allows the blood to skip the circulation to the lungs. However, when the baby is born, the blood must receive oxygen in the lungs and this hole is supposed to close. If it is still open, the blood may skip this necessary step of circulation.
When Aleena was just a little 1-year-old, she started experiencing signs and symptoms of CHD. Her parents initially took her to a doctor in their home city of Dera Ismail Khan, an agriculturally resource-rich region in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
Following a thorough medical examination, the family was told to go to the more urban city of Multan which has better medical facilities. There they had Aleena undergo an echocardiography (ECHO), which is a cardiac ultrasound.
The results of this test revealed that Aleena had a potentially fatal CHD and needed to be treated as soon as possible. This came as an absolute shock to her parents who had absolutely no idea about the underlying problem.
The treatment that was needed to save Aleena’s life was relatively expensive and to make matters worse, there was also a waiting queue of thousands. Aleena’s father, who works as a driver, needed financial support and that too fairly swiftly.
Despite all his efforts, his family’s wait lasted for a few years before finally learning about our organization. A few other children in their hometown had been treated by us and once they found out and saw that these kids were living a normal life, they immediately reached out to us.
After the first meeting, it was decided that we would financially support Aleena’s heart surgery and once we informed her parents, after a long time they felt genuinely hopeful. This was all thanks to our generous donor base, both organizations and individuals who believe in our cause.
A world-class team of CHD healthcare professionals was on board and the surgery was scheduled at the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital (ULTH), based in the capital of Punjab. All formalities were taken care of and the family was asked to just pray for everything to go well.
Thankfully, once the complex procedure was over, it was our pleasure to inform them that Aleena had overcome CHD! She was now a ‘CHD Survivor’ whose life had been absolutely transformed.
Our passion for saving lives shone through and Aleena’s family was grateful beyond measure. They were full of praise for our whole team and wished us continued success in all our projects.
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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