Tintswalo Baloyi breathes a sigh of relief as she watches her one-year-old daughter Atang play around the house after a successful but life-threatening operation to close the hole in her heart.
It took doctors at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg three hours to complete the procedure on April 1 before she was discharged three days later.
On Thursday last week, Atang celebrated her first birthday with her family in Mokopane in Limpopo while she was on the road to recovery.
In October last year, six months after her birth, Atang was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect – a condition in which a hole develops in the wall of the heart.
Baloyi said she was terrified when doctors told her about her child’s condition.
“When she turned six months, she became sick and I thought maybe she had flu. She was sweating, tired and vomiting. I took her to the Mokopane Hospital and the doctors suspected she might have a heart condition. She was transferred to the Polokwane Provincial Hospital and admitted there. A week later, doctors said she has a hole in her heart,” said Baloyi.
“We were scared. A heart is not just anything. It is not an arm, leg or kidney. It cannot be easily replaced. I was praying that the hospital diagnose her with a less severe ailment and not a heart condition. I had a nervous breakdown after receiving the news. I was crying and had a lot of thoughts in my mind. This is a child we planned and prayed for. Her father held my hand and told me everything will be all right,” said Baloyi.
Baloyi said she and her husband had to make countless trips to the hospital with the support and prayers of Atang's grandparents.
Baloyi said she and her husband were informed that Atang had to go for further specialised check-ups between October and March this year at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria due to the lack of surgeons in Polokwane.
She said doctors at Steve Biko helped them to get the Maboneng Foundation to sponsor their child’s operation.
“We were worried as to where we are going to get money for the operation. We couldn't afford private hospitals. I am not working and my husband does part-time jobs. The doctors asked me to write a motivational letter and I submitted it in March to the foundation. The foundation helps to provide funds for kids with heart conditions. The application was approved in March,” she said.
She said the operation was daunting.
“It was very emotional for us, waiting for our baby to come out of theatre. We are truly grateful for the opportunity and we appreciate what this operation means for our daughter’s future,” said Atang's father Ernest Matshonga.
“The doctors gave us medication for her and surgical spirits to use when bathing her. We removed the stitches a day before her birthday. She is fine now. She can walk, is jolly, plays with her siblings and makes a lot of noise in the house,” said Baloyi.
Atang is the most recent beneficiary of the Heart to Heart Campaign, a corporate social investment match funding initiative of Medipost Holdings and the Netcare Foundation, which helps children who need urgent life-saving heart operations.
The Maboneng Foundation, a non-profit organisation, co-ordinates the sponsorship of surgeries for SA children with congenital heart defects.
Cardiothoracic surgeon and co-founder of the Maboneng Heart Institute, Dr Erich Schürmann, said: “As the surgery to correct the defect is highly resource-intensive and there is sadly such a great need for such procedures, there is a considerable waiting list.
“It is a race against time, however, because as the child grows the heart defect causes damage to the arteries of the lungs. We were determined to find a way to help Atang to have the operation sooner with private sector support to cover the theatre and hospitalisation costs.”
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