Meet Mackendy, a 2 year old boy from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Mackendy was was born with developmental disabilities - one being the three holes in his heart, respectively called a patent ductus arteriosus, an atrial septal defect, and a ventricular septal defect. The net effect of these holes leaves him sickly and weak because it allows oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood to mix in his heart without passing through the lungs.
Because of the complexity of his condition, Mackendy requires a cardiac catheterization to determine whether he is eligible to have surgery. This procedure cannot be done in Haiti, and so he is being taken to the Dominican Republic to undergo the procedure, in which a catheter will be inserted through his groin into his heart to take measurements—his treatment will cost $1,500.
Mackendy lives with his loving mother and father and one older brother. Mackendy is very attached to both of his parents, and enjoys playing with his brother. His father is a driver for a package delivery company, and his mother works part-time in the market.
His father says, “We are very grateful to everyone who is helping us with Mackendy, we want to see him be able to grow and play like other boys his age.”
