Ahmed’s Success Story
Since inception in 2012, we at Pakistan Children’s Heart Foundation (PCHF), have financially supported 6,000 child heart procedures. This is the success story of 1-year-old Ahmed who was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA).
PDA is an unclosed hole in the aorta. The Ductus Arteriosus is a hole that allows the blood to skip the circulation to the lungs. When a baby is born, the blood must receive oxygen in the lungs and this hole is supposed to close. If it is still open, the blood may skip this necessary step of circulation.
Ahmed is the only child in his family and a source of indescribable happiness for his parents. After his birth though, they noticed that he was continuously having difficulty breathing and sleeping. They had to take him to a local doctor in their hometown, the scenic Swat valley.
Following his check-up there, the doctor suspected the presence of CHD and told the parents to take Ahmed to the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) for an Echocardiography (ECHO), which is a cardiac ultrasound. They immediately went there and Ahmed had this test done.
The results revealed that Ahmed had PDA and he needed heart surgery as soon as possible. His parents were absolutely devastated and making matters worse was the fact that the required procedure was relatively expensive.
Ahmed’s father works as a Salesman and needed financial support. The doctors in Peshawar told him to go visit Dr. M. Asim Khan, a renowned Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon in Lahore who is also a PCHF Medical Advisory Board Member.
During the meeting with Dr. Asim, Ahmed’s father told him about his family’s distressful situation and that’s when they were informed about our organization. This would be where things began to change for the better.
Our team was contacted and the family was called in for a financial evaluation. Just 2 days later, they were given a date for surgery. This was thanks to our incredible donor base who we will always be grateful beyond measure to.
The surgery would take place at one of our partner hospitals, Ittefaq Hospital (Trust) Lahore. The parents were told that Ahmed would receive the best possible care with a world-class team of CHD healthcare professionals on board.
Following the surgery, which will probably be the most difficult few hours in the lives of Ahmed’s loved ones, we were thrilled to inform them that he had overcome CHD! Ahmed was now a ‘CHD Warrior’. He had a renewed spirit which reflects the true power of compassion.
At the time of discharge, his father mentioned how thankful he was to our team. He was so happy to see his son talking, laughing and sleeping well. He said that PCHF was like a godsend and reward after going through so much hardship. We appreciate these kind words that are always considered a driving force by us.
For CHD affected families, no matter how hard things get, no matter how impossible things may seem, we at PCHF – charity you can trust with all your heart, are here for you. Our goal is to ensure that not a single child born with CHD in Pakistan remains untreated.
Legendary Pakistani cricketer, Misbah Ul Haq, is also alongside us on our journey to conquering CHD, as a Board Member and Brand Ambassador of our flagship project, Pakistan’s first dedicated Children’s Heart Hospital & Research Institute.
You can join us as well and donate towards child heart treatment or our state-of-the-art healthcare facility. Together, let’s do our utmost to save young lives and help shape a brighter future. To donate towards healing little hearts: https://pchf.org.pk/donate/
https://pchf.org.pk/banks-list/
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