Aster DM Foundation and Aster Sick Kids Foundation felicitated the entire treatment cost for the Nigerian resident
Kochi: For the last two years Nigerian citizens, Abiya and his wife Theresa could not live a happy life. Their first son Ifain Immanuel was suffering from rare heart disease and was lacking adequate treatment facilities in Nigeria. But now the couples are in a joyful mood as Ifain is back to normal life through the surgery held at Aster Medcity, Kochi.
The Nigerian couple noticed a change in the color of the skin of the baby when he was one year old. Due to the decrease in oxygen level, the baby became very weak. Further examination resulted that the baby was suffering from severe heart disease – Tetralogy of Fallot with left ventricular outflow obstruction.
The Nigerian couple, engaged in collecting and selling old clothes, was not able to provide treatment nor think of treatment in another country. Ifain’s parents were in the dark, not able to provide treatment, so the sister of Abiya came to know about the charitable activities of Aster DM HealthCare. She sent an e-mail to Aster DM Healthcare Chairman Dr. Azad Moopen briefing about the disease and the hardships faced by the family.
Aster DM Foundation which provides free treatment for children who are financially backward families from India and Central Asia decided to treat the child. Aster Sick Kids (ASK) Foundation took the initiative to bring the child and family to Aster Medcity for open surgery – Bidirectional Glenn shunt with Atrial septectomy was successfully conducted by Dr. Sajan Koshy, Senior Consultant Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.
“Tetralogy of Fallot is a common defect of the heart in children, where there is an obstruction to the outflow of the right ventricle. Managing the obstruction to the left ventricle was an additional challenge in this baby” said Dr. Sajan Koshy.
After several days of observation at the ICU, Ifain Samuel limped back to normal life and the family left for Nigeria with good memories of the kind-hearted people of Kerala. The Nigerian couple thanked the hospital staff and administration for their efforts to give a new life to their child.