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Two Gqeberha children received an early Christmas present when they underwent life-saving surgeries to repair holes in their tiny hearts.
Six-year-old Sheronique Mengie and 10-year-old Cayson Cerfonteyn, were discharged last Saturday from the Busamed Private Hospital in Paardevlei in Cape Town.
Their surgeries were made possible by the non-profit Pelo Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for children in serious need of heart treatment and surgeries.
“I am very excited that my boy finally received the surgery that will change his life. Cayson was operated on a few days ago and he is doing well,” said Janice Cerfonteyn, in a statement from the Foundation on Monday.
“After coming out from the intensive care unit, he said to me ‘Mommy, I’m happy, I have a heart now!’ and I laughed and told him that he always had a heart,” she said.
Meanwhile, Selwynessa Mengie, the mother of Sheronique, said she was “very happy that her child could finally undergo the vital operation after having been on the waiting list for about six years.”
She said her little girl was in and out of hospital because of her heart condition.
“I would like to thank everyone for assisting to save my baby’s life. Since she underwent surgery, she is getting naughtier every day, which means she is getting better! Now she looks well and ready to go to school next year,” Mengie said.
One of the surgeons on the team was Dr Adele Greyling, who said all the operations went well and they would continue to monitor the progress of the children.
The Pelo Foundation said it and its partners assisted three children with much-needed heart surgeries in 2021, with the first beneficiary being a six-year-old girl from the Eastern Cape who received heart surgery a few months ago.
Foundation spokesperson, Dudu Mvimbi Leshabane said there are thousands of children who are waiting to receive heart treatment or surgery and may die if they do not get immediate attention.
“Our vision is to ensure that Africa’s Children with Congenital Heart Disease, who come from indigent communities, may have a chance to make it to adulthood,” she said.
Pelo Foundation together with its partners, which includes Wings and Wishes that assisted to transport the children from the Eastern Cape to Busamed Paardevlei in the Western Cape, had their first beneficiary, a six-year-old girl from the Eastern Cape who had a hole in heart repaired, a few months back.
