An Appeal for Dainess

Most of you who read this know the story of Clairia: the little Burundian girl who went to Israel to have heart surgery. We now have the next Clairia. Her name is Dainess Hagibamana. She is an eleven year old female who was brought into my office at the clinic by her mother last June. The Dainess that I saw that day was a beautiful, but solemn young lady. Her heart-shaped face was devoid of expression, and her dark, ebony eyes revealed nothing of what she was feeling. She appeared apathetic to her surroundings; she neither smiled, nor frowned. Her pencil-thin arms and asthenic body told me that she was malnourished.

I quickly learned the reason for Dainess’s malnutrition: her heart had been seriously damaged by the ravages of rheumatic fever, and she was now in heart failure. Her lungs were partially filled with fluid, making the mere act of breathing difficult. Her legs, from the knees down, were swollen from accumulated fluid. Her liver was enlarged. 

I enclose two pictures of Dainess from the day that I admitted her to the hospital. You will see the portable oxygen tank next to her. She probably needed that supplemental oxygen all the time; however, our limited supply dictated that we could only give it when her oxygen level was dangerously low.

Dainess had severe mitral valve regurgitation and pulmonary hypertension. Medical treatment might help her temporarily, but medical treatment would not change her abysmal prognosis. Her heart failure would progressively worsen, and Dainess would probably die within 12-18 months, if not sooner.

There was only one solution: Dainess needed a new heart valve to replace the damaged one. That new valve would guarantee that Dainess would lead a normal life. Our hope of Dainess receiving that new valve was a faint one. Such an operation was impossible in Burundi. Once again, just as we did for Clairia, we applied to SACH (Save a Child’s Heart) in Israel. Only they could make this seemingly impossible dream become a reality. The question is, would they do it? We waited for weeks, if not months for an answer. No answer was forthcoming, and we had all given up hope for Dainess. It was only last week that we received this surprise e-mail from SACH:

I am glad to inform you that our doctors reviewed the medical reports of Dainess from Burundi and accepted her to the program. Our office will now be in touch with the family regarding all the paperwork needed for her journey and she will be coming to Israel to receive life saving heart surgery.

Thanks and best regards

Tamar

I wish that was all that was needed. I wish that I did not have to go to the money well once again, but I do. We still need approximately $5,000 to make Dainess’ surgery the reality it deserves to be. That $5,000 will cover the travel expenses for Dainess and her mother.

I ask you to contribute what you can towards that $5,000 goal. By doing so, you can take pride in the fact that you are saving a child’s life; a beautiful child who will otherwise die before her thirteenth birthday.

It is my own personal hope that our generosity will bring hope to a people who live without hope. We, who have everything, will give of ourselves to those who have nothing. We will live in the spirit of Tikkum Olam: the spirit of trying to save the world. It is the spirit that drives SACH; it is that same spirit that drives all of you who read this appeal. I know you, and I have faith in you. I know that you will do this. I know that you will be the final piece in the puzzle to save Dainess. You will put Dainess and her mother on that life-saving plane to Israel.

Clairia was the first child in the history of Burundi to have corrective heart surgery. Your contributions made that surgery possible. This is what I wrote after Clairia returned home from Israel with a normal heart.

None of you who read this, none of you who have contributed to this cause should underestimate what you have done. You have saved a life. A child who would have died before her twentieth birthday, a child who would have had to suffer through a lifetime of increasing heart failure will now lead a normal life. What you have accomplished is no small feat. What all of us working together for a common cause have accomplished is no small feat. To put that accomplishment in perspective, I enclose an e-mail from Lisha McCormick, Director of Development at Village Health Works (as well as a good friend of mine):

“I was speaking to a group of students the other day, one of whom was about 19 and relayed that he wanted to be a pediatrician. I asked him why he was drawn to that particular specialty and he relayed a really touching story about the impact physicians had on him when he was a young child suffering from chronic asthma. And then he added..."Plus, when you save a life...its a whole life."

I can't help but recall this when I think of Clairia. While I know it is a bit dramatic, I picture her as a five-year old running to play with other children, I picture her on her wedding day and then one day having a child of her own, both of them living in a Burundi that has grown better over the next two decades.

But today you should shed a tear, and then smile and know that you've saved a life....a WHOLE life...”

You can do the same for Dainess. You can make her the second child in the history of Burundi to have heart surgery. You will then do what you did for Clairia: you will save a “WHOLE life.”

You can make your contribution by going to the following link:
https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50467/t/14024/l/eng/my/donate.jsp?supporter_my_donate_page_KEY=6724