Fong creates awareness on CHD
Father’s experience of losing toddler son to heart disease
AFTER losing his first-born son to congenital heart defect (CHD), Michael Fong has made it his mission to create awareness on the disease. Mr Fong, an accredited occupational health and safety (OHS) trainer and consultant, said 24 years ago on March 24, 1998, his son Brian was born “normal” at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH).
As a young father, it was a proud moment and a turning point in his life.
“Dads are just as much part of the action as mums,” said Mr Fong.
“I was very emotional and very excited at the same time as I had mapped out his future and started purchasing new clothes.
“For the first three months things were good – he was 3.65kg when he came into the world and was a very healthy baby.”
However, Mr Fong said things took a different turn during the fourth month of his son’s life.
“I identified symptoms in him and I knew that it was not part of his normal growth, the symptoms such as a 3.65kg healthy baby who just shrunk in a week, he was restless, sweating all the time, he couldn’t breathe properly and there was even a time where we could see his heart beating and hitting his chest and he even turned black. As a young father I had no knowledge of congenital heart defect.”
In mid-June of 1998, Mr Fong’s son was diagnosed with congenital heart defect (CHD), technically known as Atrial Septal Defect (ASD). Doctors told him Brian had holes in his heart.
Mr Fong said his son had been born with two holes in his heart. Those were in the septum, he said, which was the wall which separated the chambers on the left and right sides of the heart.
The two holes in Brain’s septum, Mr Fong said, allowed blood from the two sides of the heart to mix.
“We literally made CWM our home for three months while he was kept under close observation at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).”
Tragically, on September 2, 1998, Mr Fong witnessed his son take his last breath.
“I was helpless with no financial support or any moral support to save him.
“I broke down that day and people say time will heal the pain but my heart hurts every single day. Just the thought of him breaks me into million pieces, even to this day.
“One of the most tragic and traumatic losses life can dish out to a person is the death of a firstborn child and in my case it was my firstborn son.”
He said the death of his son was much more than the loss of a precious life.
“It represented the loss of future experiences and future hopes and dreams. As a father I was never prepared for the loss of my son through CHD and when it happened, my whole world changed forever.
“The grief, guilt, and anguish I felt back then are acute and last until this day.”
Mr Fong said even though he kept himself busy and went about doing the things he had to do, as the hours passed into days and the days into weeks, he couldn’t help but think of his son from time to time.
“I can’t see or touch him so I know for real that he is not here, but I’ve still got the past in my heart and he is still near.
“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night screaming aloud and calling his name.
“But I believe I have a purpose and I am using my experience to help others.
“I’m now in a unique position to raise funds for care and treatment of children with CHD and also assist and increase awareness on CHDs.
“Over the years, generous financial support from corporate donors, individuals, friends and family members, both locally and internationally have enabled us to save the lives of these children whose families otherwise could not afford to get treatment.”
He said one never knew what would happen in the next second as life was very unpredictable.
“Perhaps that’s why people call it destiny. No one has control over it, all we can do is to value every second of our lives and those around us because everyone’s life is a mystery and we may undergo the same stages of life but not with the same experiences.”
Mr Fong said CHD was a structural and functional defect of the heart that was present at birth.
There are 35 different types of CHD and they change the normal flow of blood through the heart, some defects require no treatment, but some require major treatment soon after birth.
CHD is the most common type of birth defect and interplays between genetic and environmental factors that may cause CHD by disrupting specific signals that help the fetal heart develop.
Oftentimes, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact, specific cause of a particular defect, but the generalities are understood.
Medications and drugs, environmental toxins, maternal illnesses, and chromosome abnormalities are all known to increase the risk of CHD.
Mr Fong has over the years raised funds, and awareness, for care and treatment of children with CHD in Fiji.
To commemorate World Heart Day this year Mr Fong, with a group of loyal friends and business partners, walked 32km from Suva to Nausori to highlight CHD.
It represented the loss of future experiences and future hopes and dreams. As a father I was never prepared for the loss of my son through CHD and when it happened, my whole world changed forever
– Michael Fong