doctors from birmingham children’s hospital in the uk join doctors from institut jantung negara (IJN) in malaysia to perform heart surgery. |
writer: Michael & Kate Duffield
photographer: john abernathy
(story synopsis)
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An infant lies on an operating table, chest wide open, her heart exposed. Cardiac surgeons, nurses and technicians surround her. Specialized equipment blinks in the background, trailing cords across the floor. Observers in the room talk quietly about the miraculous operation being performed. A girl who might not have lived to her first birthday is given a chance at life by doctors working with Children’s HeartLink.
Children’s HeartLink treats underprivileged children with congenital heart disease and helps prevent acquired heart disease. In both conditions the heart becomes overworked and the body receives insufficient oxygenated blood. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, occurring in nearly one in a hundred births throughout the world. If left untreated it leads to childhood death in approximately one of three cases. |
two-year old nur and her mother, zurina shuhadah, live in a small rural village. they are waiting for a bed at ijn, where nur will receive treatment for her congenital heart defect. neighbors noticed her blue lips and recognized the symptom because their child had been diagnosed with a heart defect. |
Acquired heart disease is generally preventable and most frequently occurs in impoverished countries where families have little access to health care.
Pediatric cardiac care is commonly unavailable in developing countries because it requires specialized machines and training. Governments may have no choice but to allocate scarce funds and resources to more easily treatable health issues. As a result, the care of children with heart disease in developing countries has largely fallen to the international community. |
two-month-old nageshwai is in post-op at ijn. her grateful mother wipes tears away with her baby’s hand. |
children’s heartlink
5075 arcadia avenue
minneapolis, mn 55436
usa
952.928.4860 or 888.928.6678
audrey@childrensheartlink.org
www.childrensheartlink.org |
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