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Five-month-old baby needs Shs27m for heart surgery
Baby Catherine Nakimera was found to have three holes in her heart.
What you need to know:
- For any assistance, you can use the mobile money numbers 0773372624 or 0705186117 of Betty Namusazi, the mother or 0772560689 or 0702560689 of Johnson Mujabi, the father.
The pink little hands of five-month-old Catherine Nakimera hold onto her mother’s. Four days after her birth, baby Nakimera was found to have three holes in her heart. The findings sent her parents into panic.
“On discovering the three holes in her heart, the doctors at Mulago hospital in Kawempe referred us to the noenatal healthcare unit of Mulago Referral Hospital in Kampala for a scan. It was confirmed that she had holes and we were asked to return to hospital after three months for a possible operation. However, when we returned, she was examined and we were told she had to be referred to India for further treatment,” Ssalongo Johnson Mujabi, Nakimera’s father, narrates.
With his wife Betty Namusaazi, a housewife, they seek approximately Shs27m as total expenses for medical services for their baby and more. The cost was provided by Action for Disadvantaged People, an organisation that helps orphans, vulnerable children and other disadvantaged people. The cost detailed in a report signed by the organisation’s executive director, George Ntambi, includes Shs19m as medical fees for the open heart surgery, Shs4.6m to cover two air tickets, Shs760,000 to cover two visas and vaccination cards and Shs2.7 for food and accommodation.
“For any assistance, you can use the mobile money numbers 0773372624 or 0705186117 of Betty Namusazi, the mother or 0772560689 or 0702560689 of Johnson Mujabi, the father,” reads a plea from the organisation.
A medical report prepared by Dr Judith Namuyonga, a paediatrician and cardiologist and Dr Bernard Obongonyinge, a paediatrician/cardiology fellow states that at three months, Nakimera, weighing 4.1 kilogrammes, was found with tricuspid atresia.
The condition is a type of heart disease that is present at birth (congenital heart disease), in which the tricuspid heart valve is missing or abnormally developed. The defect blocks blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle.
“If we delay the treatment, we fear that her breathing problem could worsen and lead to fatal results. We call on the kind hearted to come to our rescue and save our daughter from losing her life,” Ssalongo Mujabi appeals.
