David is three years old, and lives in Haiti with his mother and father. He is their first child, and he currently attends preschool. “He likes making drawings, especially Mickey Mouse,” says our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA).
David was born with a cardiac condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, which involves a hole between two chambers of the heart, as well as a muscular blockage of one of the valves.
“Blood flows through the hole in his heart without first passing through the lungs to get oxygen, leaving him sickly and short of breath,” says HCA. “Because of the severity of this condition, there is a chance it may not be repairable, but the only way to determine this is by inserting a catheter into the chambers of his heart. Since this is not possible in Haiti, arrangements are being made to bring him to Dominican Republic to perform this extremely important test in the hopes that he can have heart surgery later in the year.”
$1,500 will fund his transportation, travel, and diagnostic test fees. “Following the catheterization procedure, David's family will know with certainty whether his condition is operable or not,” HCA continues. “If operable, plans will then be made to move forward with his surgery as soon as possible.”
"We are hoping that David can have surgery as soon as possible so that he can run and play like a normal boy,” his mother says.