St. Francis Doctors Give 19-Month-Old Orphan from Haiti a Lifesaving Gift for the Holidays
ROSLYN, N.Y., December 20, 2007 - Doctors know her only as Patricia because she doesn’t have a last name. Suffering from a potentially fatal heart condition, the 19-month old girl from Haiti was abandoned as an infant on the doorstep of a government hospital. Although she is so weak she has to sleep for 15 hours a day, today she has a new chance at life, after being discovered in a Haitian orphanage by one St. Francis Hospital physician and receiving a state-of-the-art procedure from another.
“This is what I live for, to help children like Patricia,” said Sean Levchuck, M.D., Director of Pediatric Cardiology at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center. Using a balloon catheter inserted through the child’s leg, Dr. Levchuck was able to treat her faulty heart valve, giving her the best Christmas gift she could get by helping her avoid open-heart surgery.
Patricia suffers from pulmonary valve stenosis, an abnormality that impedes the flow of blood to the lungs. The walls of the valve stick together and the condition can get worse over time, leading to arrhythmia and possible cardiac arrest. Dr. Levchuck believes that without the minimally invasive procedure Patricia may not have reached the age of ten.
The Mercy and Sharing Foundation, a Colorado-based organization that operates two orphanages in Haiti for ill and terminally ill children, arranged for Patricia to be flown to the United States. Lionel Barrau, M.D., Chief of Nephrology at St. Francis, initially discovered the child during a trip to his homeland and couldn’t forget what he saw.
“I was very impressed that she looked so intact in the midst of so many sick children, so it prompted me to examine her,” said Dr. Barrau. After hearing a heart murmur and ordering further tests, Dr. Barrau realized she had a valve abnormality that needed to be fixed.
With help from the Nicholas J. Vizza Memorial Fund for Pediatrics, which paid for Patricia’s hospital care, and Dr. Levchuck, who donated his services, Patricia was given new hope for a normal life. Dr. Barrau’s sister-in-law, a retired nurse, cared for the orphan prior to the procedure, giving her a surrogate home for the holidays.
Patricia will eventually return to Haiti, where she will be eligible for adoption under Haitian law and finally get a last name. But for now she is known as the Christmas child at St. Francis, and the doctor’s wife has given her an unofficial surname - Etoile, which is Creole for “little star.
The Mercy and Sharing Foundation is a non-profit organization aimed at giving hope and dignity to the children of Haiti. For more information call: (970) 925-1492 or log on to www.HaitiChildren.com.
For U.S. and International Adoptions, please contact Frank Scott at frank@haitichildren.com or fs0713@msn.com for assistance, or call 1-801-466-9400.
Contact:
Paul Barry, 516-705-6657, paul.barry@chsli.org
Rosemary Gomez, 516-707-6656, rosemary.gomez@chsli.org
