“We are very grateful to the cardiac team and everyone who is helping Marchelie become well,” Marchelie’s parents tell us.
Meet Marchelie, a one-year-old baby girl from Haiti. “Marchelie was born with a cardiac condition: patent ductus arteriosus, in which a hole between two parts of the heart that normally exist in a fetus but closes naturally at birth remains open,” explains our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA). “As a result, blood flows through this hole without first obtaining oxygen from the lungs. Marchelie is very sickly and underweight because of this condition.”
Marchelie is the first-born to her mother and father and was born prematurely. Due to her condition, Marchelie “has spent most of her life in and out of hospitals and her parents have been extremely devoted to her care,” HCA continues. “They are excited to see her become healthy and happy.”
$1,500 will fund the surgery to repair the defect in Marchelie’s heart. “Following closure of the defect, blood should flow normally through Marchelie’s heart and she should be restored to health,” HCA adds.