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News from Fanja
Fanja is doing better!
04/30/2021 – In the midst of crisis, one woman’s tenacity and your generosity saved Fanja
While many had their eyes riveted on the Covid-19 pandemic indicators, our friend and referent Dr Ramamonjisoa, a cardiopediatrician in Madagascar, only had eyes for the sick children on her growing waiting list.
Among them was 3-year-old Fanja, who suffered from a persistent ductus arteriosus, which disrupted blood circulation. Little by little, the little girl’s life was being extinguished… Like Dr Ramamonjisoa, you decided to change her destiny by answering our call for help. Successfully operated on on her native island by Dr Randimbinirina after long months of waiting, Fanja is now in great shape and has been able to make her first start at nursery school. She loves coloring and playing with her friends, but above all she loves the dinette… perhaps she’ll become a future star chef?
Thanks to you, she now has every chance of success!
07/30/2020 – Let’s work together to save Fanja
Dr. Nivohanta Ramamonjisoa, cardio-pediatrician in Madagascar and local referent for La Chaîne de l’Espoir, has never stopped fighting for sick children, and today she is still tirelessly pursuing her mission: to care for her little patients despite COVID-19.
Moreover, this global health crisis has worsened the situation in Madagascar, particularly for sick children living in provinces far from the capital. Among them, children who were detected before the confinement are still unable to travel to the Soavinandriana Hospital in Antananarivo for treatment, as travel is still very limited.
Fanja’s life is threatened
Against this backdrop, Dr Ramamonjisoa set out to perform a new miracle: saving Fanja. Fanja is a 3-year-old girl who lives with her parents in Antananarivo, the island’s capital. From the age of 6 months, this little girl suffered from frequent bronchitis. Last November, during an episode of acute bronchitis, Fanja was presented to our referral hospital for children with heart disease. An X-ray showed her lungs to be flooded with blood, and an ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis: a persistent ductus arteriosus.
All the trouble comes from a small, one-centimeter-long piece of tubing located between the pulmonary artery and the aorta. This duct, essential to the life of a fetus that breathes through its mother’s lungs, should have closed at the first cry. But in Fanja’s case, it remained open. As a result, the blood takes the wrong route.
Fanja’s operation had already been scheduled several months ago, but the pandemic disrupted the operating schedule. The little girl is now waiting for the second miracle: the operation that will close the ductus arteriosus and restore blood circulation. But the child’s father, a turner in a local workshop, is unable to contribute financially to the operation that will save his daughter.
Help us save Fanja
We’re calling on you today to carry out this gesture of pure generosity and help Fanja. A procession of our friends will follow so that this Chain of Solidarity crosses the seas and extends all the way to Madagascar. Fanja’s operation will be carried out on site by Madagascan surgeons trained in the past in La Réunion by Pr Delambre. Today, they are capable of performing this type of heart surgery on their own. Everything is programmed. We’re just waiting for you.
Together, let’s mobilize!
