Nimra’s Success Story
Since inception in 2012, we at Pakistan Children’s Heart Foundation (PCHF), have financially supported 4,293 life-saving child heart surgeries. This is the success story of 10-year-old Nimra, who was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) called Tetralogy Of Fallot.
In TOF, 4 related heart defects affect blood flow. In most cases, too little blood goes to the lungs. Low-oxygen blood then circulates to the rest of the body and not enough oxygen can reach body tissues. Children with TOF often have cyanosis, a blue or purple tint to the skin, lips and fingernails.
Nimra’s parents reside in Sahiwal and as soon as she started suffering from signs and symptoms of CHD, they immediately took her to a local doctor for a medical check-up. Little did they know, their daughter was in for a fight for her life.
After being examined by the doctor, Nimra’s family was told to get her an Echocardiography (ECHO), which is a cardiac ultrasound. Once the results of this test came in, the unfortunate news was delivered to the parents. To say that they were devastated is an understatement.
They were also informed of the fact that Nimra would need life-saving heart surgery which was relatively expensive and unaffordable for them. They would also have to travel to Lahore to explore treatment options.
Nimra’s father works as a labourer who solely supports his whole family which includes his wife, son and 4 daughters. In search of financial support for his child’s heart surgery, he travelled to Lahore and met Dr. Faiz Rasool, a renowned Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon.
He was the one who recommended PCHF to Nimra’s father. The family then scheduled a meeting with us and made their way to our Head Office, looking to us as a source of hope.
In the meeting with our team, they informed us of their whole ordeal and how they ended up coming to us. They were told to remain calm and that we would do our utmost to save Nimra’s life. Having a generous donor base to call upon, arranging funds for the surgery would not be a problem.
Once all formalities were complete fairly quickly, we managed to schedule Nimra’s surgery at our world-class Cardiac Care Center at the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital (ULTH). The procedure, known as a Total Correction, was to be 100 percent funded through us.
A brilliant team of healthcare professionals was on board as well and her family was assured that she was in great hands. Following a very difficult few hours for them in which the surgery was taking place, we were thrilled to inform them that Nimra had overcome CHD! She was now a ‘CHD Warrior’.
Her loved ones, especially her mother who was constantly by her side, were all overwhelmed with emotion and their happiness knew no bounds. They praised our entire organization and at the time of discharge, wished us all the best in achieving all our goals.
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, by helping build the nation’s first dedicated Children’s Heart Hospital & Research Institute, as a PCHF Board Member.
You can join us as well and donate towards child heart treatment or hospital construction. Together, let’s do our utmost to save young lives and help shape a brighter future. Play your part, save little hearts: https://pchf.org.pk/donate/
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