• Anuradha aged 17, from Panruti, Tamilnadu:

• Surgery: Pericardial Patch closure of Ostium Secundum ASD

Anuradha hails from a poor family in Panrutti Taluk where her father works as a daily wage earner. When Anuradha was a baby, she was diagnosed to have a congenital defect for which an open heart surgery was necessary. Sadly the family could not afford it and the thought of serious surgeries like this could not even be imagined by this family due to their financial constraints, the danger and the seriousness of it.

Lately a relative who visited them from Chennai mentioned to them about CHIME. This is how Anuradha and her parents came to MIOT Hospitals. As she was over 16, she was not eligible for government funds. This pushed the family to sell whatever jewellery they had and borrowed a little money as her surgery was going to cost around Rs1.5 lakhs.

CHIME came forward and helped Anuradha through funds received from a Trust, through individual donors who responded to an appeal in the papers and finally the difference filled in from funds in CHIME. 

And now after her successful surgery, Anuradha comes to MIOT Hospitals & CHIME for her regular check ups and it’s heartening to note that she has now resumed College.

• Baby of Radha, 19 days, from Dindugul, Tamilnadu:

• Surgery: Arterial switch operation. PTFE Patch closure of VSD

Baby of Radha was hardly 18 days old when she was rushed to Hospital. The baby was diagnosed with heart ailment a few days before the delivery when the mother Radha underwent a routine scan. Radha & her husband Harish who is a paraplegic, decided to go through with the delivery and immediately after birth they travelled from Dindugul to a prominent Hospital in Bangalore but were told that they did not have facilities for neonatal surgery and hence were directed to MIOT Hospitals.

Radha's little one is the second one born to these parents who are consanguineously married. They have a 5 years old daughter. Radha's husband works as a welding mechanic.

The estimated cost of this surgery was to be anything in the range of 2 lakhs. The surgery took place when the baby was just 23 days old and had to remain in the ICU for 8 days considering the critical nature.

The unfailing determination and anguish faced by the parents was very perceptible. CHIME came to their rescue in such an emergency situation.

Today we are happy that the child is back home and was named Rakesh while at the hospital itself. 

• Ramesh, approximately 14 years from Kolathur, Thiruannamalai Taluk, Tamilnadu:

• Procedure: Repair of Pentalogy, Pericardial Patch, Reconstruciton of Pulmonary Valve, Pericardial Patch closure of ASD

Ramesh was identified as a child who requires immediate medical attention during the Thiruannamalai Heart Camp conducted by MIOT Hospitals and CHIME on August 29th 2008.

Ramesh is the only child and his mother who is a widow works as an agricultural labour.

Ramesh's mother an illiterate and ignorant - was unaware of her child's complicated condition. Because of her poverty she could do nothing when she realised that something was wrong with the child when the child suffered with swelling, lack of appetite, listlessness, etc... at the age of 5. Ramesh in spite of all these odds was a determined student at 10th standard in a government school.

Ramesh mother understood the critical condition of her son only during their visit to the Thiruannamalai Heart Camp. Later Ramesh was brought to MIOT through CHIME and now after his surgery he has been advised rest for two months before he can rejoin his school.

Like Ramesh, five other children of whom 2 were girls, all from the Thiruannamalai camp came to Chennai for surgeries and corrections that needed immediate attention. All of them were blissfully unaware of their critical health condition.

Ray of hope
These are bright children, for whom a ray of hope is necessary to spread light into their world and that of their hapless families. Since these are mostly children from underprivileged families they undergo years of suffering, of constant illness, of ill health, of neglect, of being left out of normal activities which children take part in, of seeing the helpless look on the faces of their parents who have no options but watch their child suffer.

This neglect is the result of fear of a vital surgery, the cost which usually makes the parent avoid, withdraw, no proper guidance regarding access to treatment. CHIME is willing to conduct on request camps in districts of Tamil Nadu for awareness regarding congenital heart disease, identifying children with heart disease (which often goes unnoticed with symptoms like constant cold, congestion, respiratory problems etc), and to undertake the surgery if the identified child/children are from families which have no economic backing.

What CHIME has achieved till date
Over 350 surgeries were supported by CHIME in the last three years. While MIOT provides the initial capital, state-of-the-art infrastructure and the team of competent, committed doctors, a lot of support and resources have been forthcoming from organizations, various communities and individuals from different parts of India and the world. This has been our silver lining.