Twenty seven children who had heart defects have successfully undergone life saving surgery within the last ten days through the help of a team of doctors from the Sai Prema Foundation.
26-year-old Naina Segati of Nailega in Wainibuka could not hold back her tears as she thanked the team for saving her 5-month-old baby boy.
She says in the last five months they had to travel to Suva once a week for medical checks however this will change as their only son has received the much needed help.
The surgery was performed by a team led by Paediatric Heart Surgeon, Doctor Ashish Katewa from India as part of the Gift of Life initiative which was organised by the Sai Prema Foundation.
Doctor Katewa says he was very pleased with the support from local nurses and doctors which enabled them to successfully complete their operation.
He says six infants were amongst the 27 children that went through life saving surgery.
The team had also operated on 25 children in 2016.
Meanwhile, CWM Paediatric Registrar Doctor Maryanne Kora’ia has been given the opportunity to further her studies in paediatric cardiology in India through a three month learning partnership programme with the Sai Prema Foundation.
Sai Prema Foundation Medical Coordinator, Krupali Tappoo says that the objective of the programme is for Fiji to build it’s knowledge and to have it’s own unit.
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