Meet Emmanuel! He’s less than one month old, lives in Haiti and was born with pyloric stenosis, a condition which causes the muscle between the stomach and small intestine to thicken, preventing food from getting into the intestines.
As a result, Emmanuel is unable to breastfeed and often has excessive saliva come out of this moth and nostrils. Our medical partner, Project Medishare, explains, “A surgical intervention is needed in order to repair the bottom of the stomach” so that he can eat and consume the nutrients he needs.
Emmanuel is the only child of a 19-year-old mother who is still in school. Emmanuel’s great-grandmother is his main caretaker and she supports him, his mother, and his aunt and grandmother on the modest income she earns from the food shop she owns, but cannot afford his medical treatment. Project Medishare tells us, “Emmanuel remains in an incubator at the hospital and is waiting for surgery; his grandmother explains that she feels very bad.”
For $1500, Emmanuel will have his pyloric muscle surgically repaired so that food can pass from his stomach to his intestine normally. This operation will allow Emmanuel to receive the nutrients he need via breastfeeding.
In turn, his immune system will strengthen and he will no longer expel excess saliva so he will be able to leave the hospital. Emmanuel’s recovery will allow him to grow and gain weight and alleviate his family’s stress.