Chabenta is a girl from Haiti. Chabenta lives in an orphanage in a mountainous area south of Port-au-Prince; she enjoys her classes in school and would like to become a doctor one day. She has a cardiac condition called severe mitral regurgitation, in which one of the four valves of her heart has been damaged by rheumatic fever and can no longer open and close properly. As a result, her heart cannot adequately pump blood through her body, leaving her sick and short of breath.
Chabenta will fly to Boston to undergo surgery on September 5. During surgery, the medical team will first attempt to repair her damaged valve; if this is not possible, they will implant an artificial replacement. Boston Childrens Hospital is providing $28,000 to fund surgery.
Chabenta’s family also needs help to fund costs of surgery prep. Our medical partner is requesting $1,500 to support these costs.
She says, “I am looking forward to this surgery so that I can walk to and from school without having to rest.”