Congenital Heart Treatment for Mexican Children

On behalf of the Kardias team, we thank you for your generous contributions.

We want to share with you some stories of Mexican children of underprivileged situations that, with your help, had access to the heart surgery they needed and are now living a healthy normal life in the company of their families.

Elizabeth is 9 years old and for the first time since she was born she feels well. She was born with a heart malformation but was diagnosed in June 2018.

When Elizabeth was 7 years old she started having symptoms such as fainting, her skin color and lips were of a pale blue and was losing weight for no apparent reason. The public hospital to which she arrived transferred her to the Kardias team.

She underwent surgery with the Kardias program and was discharged a week after her surgery. She will be back in school in October which she is very excited about. She wants to be able to play without fear of fainting or losing her breath.

Laila is 7 years old. She was born with a rare condition in which all her organs are on the opposite side of where they should be. Her heart was on the right side and was twisted and in a horizontal position. She luckily arrived at the public hospital in which the Kardias team is responsible for pediatric heart surgery. She had to wait for 3 years in waiting list since every time she was scheduled for surgery she was sick so the surgery would be postponed. Finally she was able to undergo surgery.

When she heard she was going to operated she was worried the doctors would change her heart because, as she told her mother, "She likes the way her heart sings". The procedure went smoothly and she is now home with her family. Her mother sighs with relief " the nightmare is over".

Laila is a warrior, she has a heartwarming smile and irradiates happiness. She ran 300 mts in the Kardias race for children healthy and strong. She is charismatic, energetic and playful. Her mother cannot believe that after surgery she is able to play the way she does. The scar is not an issue for her, it is part of her new life and she is proud of it. She decides what to wear and does not mind the scar shows.

Now she is back in school and is starting neurological therapy because after so many years in waiting list with poor oxygenation she developed a small delay.

Amaya is now 17, since she was 6 years old she told her mother si had a "tic tac", her mother did not understand what she meant until the day in which Amaya hold her mother's hand to her heart and her mother felt a heart that was pounding too fast and took her immediately to hospital. She would go to bed at 6 sleeping more hours than her siblings, she was not able to exercise or play like other kids. Her surgery with the Kardias team was successful and she is well and healthy.

She now takes singing lessons and is excited that she can reach the highest notes which she was not able to do before due to poor oxygenation.

She loves her gymnastics class and wants to help other children with her condition.

1 in every 100 children worldwide are born with congenital heart defects.

In Mexico 18,000 children are born every year with this condition out of which 14,000 need surgery but only 6,000 receive treatment and in many of these cases not of the best quality. Most children from underprivileged situations are poorly diagnosed and do not have access to heart surgeries with extraordinary doctors.

Kardias enables access to high quality treatment for mexican children with congenital heart defects.  Kardias provides heart surgeries for more than 200 children every year with a survival rate of 95%. Our goal is to increase the number of surgeries performed each year.

We fundraise so that every Mexican child who needs it gets the best surgical treatment and attention.  We do this by supporting a group of outstanding dedicated doctors in a innovative hybrid model combining  work in the public sector and the private sector which allows us to enlarge the volume of children we assist and to improve the quality of every surgery.

With your generous donations we have been able to fund cardiologist consultations, surgical material, initial appointments, echocardiogram consultations and payment for a day in the ICU.

We will continue to fundraise and we would like to ask you for your help in sending this link to your friends and family members.

From our heart, thank you very much