West Family’s Prayer Answered Thanks to Free Heart Surgery
There is a hole in your son’s heart. Those words broke Fazia Bi, 32, and her husband, Abdul Moize, 33, given their son was only six years old.
Their nightmare got worse when they discovered that it would cost more than $30,000 for his surgery overseas.
“Our son, Abdul Momin, was admitted for pneumonia at the Lautoka Hospital when he was much younger, and that was where we learnt about his condition,” Ms Bi said.
“We were told that there was a tiny hole in his heart and that it would close when he grows up. “Unfortunately, the hole did not close.”
They have three children. Abdul is the middle child.
Later on, Ms Bi read on social media that a team from the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital was in Lautoka conducting free screening.
The team was located about 10 kilometers away from their house. They took the opportunity to get their son screened.
That trip turned their life around because Abdul became one of the nine children to receive free life-saving open-heart surgery from a team of specialists overseas recently.
“I was worried about the surgery, but I had to be brave for my son,” Ms Bi said.
“We are standing here at the hospital with a new gift of life.”
“Thank you.”
This was made possible with a 20-member team of surgeons, doctors and specialists from Mumbai, India who performed on children for free at the hospital.
Hospital director Dr Krupali Tappoo said: “We are committed to saving the lives of the children of Fiji and the Pacific and we invite everyone to join us in ensuring that our future generations are given the ‘Gift of Life’ that they deserve.”