This is the success story of Shafa, an 8-year-old ‘Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Survivor’. She was diagnosed with a CHD called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), a rare & critical heart defect in which the 2 main arteries leaving the heart are reversed.
It changes the way blood circulates through the body, leaving a shortage of oxygen in the blood flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. Patients face serious complications, or even death, without treatment.
As an infant, Shafa used to experience breathing difficulties. Fearing for her health, Shafa’s parents who reside in Lahore, initially took her to the city’s renowned Children’s Hospital for a medical check-up.
Following a thorough examination including an Echocardiography (ECHO), which is a cardiac ultrasound, it was confirmed that Shafa was born with a hole in the heart. It was potentially life-threatening.
Her family, who had no idea about the severity of the situation, were shocked to the core by this news. Their lives had changed in an instant and they felt completely helpless, longing for a glimmer of hope.
With swift access to treatment not possible at Children’s Hospital because of a long queue, combined with the fact that the family also needed financial support, everything seemed to be going wrong. However, all that was about to change.
They made their way to another hospital, Ittefaq Hospital (Trust) in Lahore where they met Dr. M. Asim Khan, a Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon. He was the one who informed them about us, an organization dedicated to saving lives of children like Shafa.
Since inception in 2016, we have financially supported over 800 child heart procedures. When Shafa’s father, who works at a bank and solely supports a family of 6, learned of this he felt elevated and rightly so. Following an initial evaluation of the case, we were going to do our utmost to save his daughter’s life.
We at PCHFNA, are blessed with a remarkable donor base and Deerfield Foundation, one of our partners in building hope, has given us a grant to support our cause. We are grateful beyond measure to them for joining us on our journey and their funds were used to help shape a brighter future for Shafa.
The surgery was swiftly scheduled at Ittefaq Hospital with a world-class team in place. Shafa’s family could not believe how quickly everything was happening and hoped with their full hearts that this would be beginning of a better future together.
The heart procedure lasted for a few hours, which were extremely distressful for Shafa’s parents. Once it was over though, it was our privilege to tell them that Shafa had defeated CHD! She was now a ‘CHD Survivor’ who had powered through an unprecedented challenge.
With a normal life now on the horizon, Shafa’s family felt grateful beyond measure to our entire team. Her father was overwhelmed with emotion at the time of discharge and thanked us wholeheartedly for everything we had done. We wish them a life filled with happiness together!
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/
#SuccessStory #CHDSurvivor #TGA
#EveryLifeMattersEveryChildMatters #PCHFNA
