Baby with hole-in-heart cries for help

Parents seek $10,000 for corrective surgery in India

WHEN Mrs. Joy Njoku gave birth to her baby boy a few months back, her joy, as well as her husband’s, knew no bounds. Little Emmanuel Ikechukwu Njoku quickly became the apple of their eyes within sparse seconds of his arrival into this world and his parents showered him with love and affection. Emmanuel is the last of three children but that didn’t stop his parents from loving the energetic handsome baby.

Sadly, their joy is being threatened as baby Emmanuel has been diagnosed with a hole in his heart.
According to a medical report made available to The Guardian by his tearful mother, a Consultant Pediatrician and Cardiologist at MeCure Health Centre, Dr. Chinyere Uzodinma, diagnosed Emmanuel of enlarged atrial septal defect, pulmonary artery stenosis and a dilated right heart.

“His heart rate is also described as high at 150b\m, very irregular with missed beats and a pan systolic murmur. His left heart border is bulging as well.”

Several specialists have recommended urgent surgery for the ASD closure if Emmanuel is to have any chance of living.
The mother narrated that she had him in a private hospital and he looked fine initially but she noticed that his breathing became increasingly noisy as days went on, especially when he was being breastfed.

Two weeks after his birth, she noticed that he started experiencing choking and shortness of breath, especially at night. After several hospital visits, she was referred to Isolo General Hospital and after being examined by several specialists, he was eventually diagnosed at the MeCure Health Centre as having a hole in the heart. He was just a month old at the time.

Mrs. Njoku said she initially refused to believe it because Emmanuel still looked very healthy and was eating normally but after the choking increased, she was forced to face reality and begin to look for urgent solutions. After his diagnosis, she was advised to take him to India for a corrective surgery. After contacting the Indian hospital, she was told to wait till Emmanuel was six months old, with the hope that the hole might close on its own.

However, his condition has deteriorated and the need for the surgery has become apparent.

“He cries a lot now. Though he is eating, he is losing weight. His breathing is very fast and his buccal cavity is blue, which doctors say is a sign of oxygen shortage,” his mother said.

Mr. and Mrs Njoku are calling on all kind-hearted Nigerians to save their son’s life. Emmanuel’s father sells beer and his mother is a housewife.

According to them, they have spent so much on his health and have even gotten passports for their journey. They, however, do not have the N2.4 million needed for the corrective operation and want Nigerians to support them.

Any assistance for baby Emmanuel Njoku can be made to Njoku Joy Nwakaego. Diamond Bank Account Number: 0037198537. She could be reached on the following phone numbers: 08038874909 and 08032925118.