Chivensky is a toddler from Haiti. He lives in a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, where his mother and father share custody of him during the week. He attends preschool and likes drawing and watching cartoons.
Chivensky has a cardiac condition called venticular septal defect. A hole exist between the two lower chambers of his heart. Blood leaks through this hole without passing through the lungs to obtain oxygen, leaving him sickly and weak. Because the defect has gone unrepaired, he also suffers from a condition called pulmonary hypertension that may or may not prevent him from being able to have heart surgery—the only way to know is to perform a diagnostic catheterization.
To determine if Chivensky’s condition is operable, he must undergo a diagnostic cardiac catheterization, a procedure that is not available in Haiti. During the procedure, a catheter probe will be inserted into his heart to perform the necessary measurements and tests. On May 23, he will travel to the Dominican Republic to receive the scan at our medical partner’s care center, Clinica Corominas.
Our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, is asking for $1,500 to cover the costs of Chivensky’s travel expenses, catheterization procedure, and lab work.
His father says, “Our family will be praying that the test brings good news, and that our son can go on to have heart surgery soon!”