TEL AVIV, Israel, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, May 13, Save a Child's Heart (SACH), an Israeli based international humanitarian organization, performed lifesaving heart surgery on a four-year-old Syrian girl. The child, whose identity is not being released for security reasons, was referred to SACH by an American humanitarian organization operating in Jordan and Israel.
The girl was brought last week to Israel from Jordan, where she and her mother were living as refugees from the current Syrian civil war. Upon her arrival, the girl was examined by the SACH medical team, and it was determined that she would undergo open-heart surgery as soon as possible. The procedure was performed at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. The surgery was successful, and the child is currently recovering in the hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
According to the child's mother, doctors in Syria discovered the girl's heart condition when the child was six-months-old, but proper medical care was not available.
"We kept taking her to doctors and to the hospital but nothing could be done for her," the mother said. "She couldn't run and play like other children and she was very sick most of the time."
Although she was very apprehensive about going to Israel, the mother said that the doctors treated her and her daughter very well. At Wolfson Hospital, the mother was able to meet other SACH patients and their families - many of whom are Palestinian and speak Arabic.
When asked how she felt about coming to Israel for her daughter's surgery, the mother said the only thing that mattered to her was having the opportunity to save her daughter's life.
Prior to this surgery, SACH had treated more than 3,000 children from 44 developing nations. On Monday, Syria became the 45th country.
SACH is an Israel-based international humanitarian project that provides lifesaving cardiac care to children from developing nations, regardless of the child's nationality, religion, race, gender or financial situation. In addition, SACH seeks to create centers of competence in pediatric cardiac treatment in these countries. SACH has provided care to more than 3,000 children from Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and throughout the Middle East – including more than 1,500 from the Palestinian Authority. For SACH's media kit, please click here (PDF).
ISRAEL CONTACT
Tamar Shapira
Email
011 972 52 8669446
U.S.CONTACT
Barry Perlis
Email
301-520-5435
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SOURCE Save a Child's Heart
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