“I am happy that I can have this surgery so I will have more energy, and don’t have to be as worried about my health anymore,” says Elizabeth, a 17-year-old from Haiti.
Elizabeth does the best she can to pursue her interests, which include school, going to church, playing with her sisters, and listening to music. But a health condition sometimes makes it hard to do all of this without getting tired.
Elizabeth is 17 now, but when she was 12, she fell ill with rheumatic fever. The disease infected the valves of her heart, and severely damaged one of them. This valve no longer opens and closes normally, which in turn means that blood backs up into her heart and does not circulate adequately through her body. This causes Elizabeth to feel fatigued much of the time. Furthermore, if left untreated, the condition could become fatal.
There is a surgical procedure that can repair Elizabeth’s damaged heart valve. However, her parents, who are farmers, cannot afford to pay for this operation on her own. Fortunately, a hospital, Health City Cayman Islands, has offered to subsidize the $10,000 cost of the surgery itself. What we still need to raise is $1,500 to cover the diagnostic tests and transportation costs that Elizabeth needs in order to travel to the Cayman Islands for her surgery—including passports, airfare, and a stipend for the family that will host her there.
Obtaining this surgery for Elizabeth now will help her pursue a bright future. She is a strong student, and would someday like to go on to college, then open a business.
