Vasenai Soqo
[Photo: Supplied]
Two children from Kiribati are returning home after receiving free heart treatment at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital in Fiji.
The children were discharged after spending about a week in Fiji for treatment.
For their mothers, bringing their children to Fiji for heart care came with uncertainty, but the free treatment has given their families new hope.
Mother Bwenatetaeke Tetebano says her son was born with a heart defect and struggled to feed after birth.
“I was informed straight after giving birth in the hospital. He was not responding to the breast milk, making it hard for him to eat”.
Tetebano says they arrived in Fiji a week before her son was admitted last Wednesday.
She says he spent about four to five hours in surgery, leaving her worried about whether he would wake up.
Meanwhile, Mwangarita Tobwaia took her five-year-old son Martin for screening and was told he had Rheumatic Heart Disease.
“My son is very energetic; however, I noticed that it was hard for him to wake up on his own, prompting me to wake him up on numerous occasions”.
Tobwaia is grateful to the medical team for providing the treatment free of charge, as well as financial assistance towards her son’s care.
Both families are now preparing to return to Kiribati, where relatives are eagerly awaiting their arrival and have planned a special feast to welcome them home.
