Center Blog Heart
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Fortune

Fortune is a 2 year old boy from a town outside of Kampala, Uganda. He is an only child to his father and mother who struggle to find work and to meet his medical needs. His father moves the family around as needed to find work, but even when he is able to put food on the table for the family, Fortune was oftentimes too ill from his heart condition to eat. Before the operation, fortune couldn’t even move his body on his own and wasn’t speaking and meeting developmental milestones. Fortune’s mother knew something was wrong with him pretty shortly after he was born. She recalls noticing his breathing wasn’t right and later bringing him to the doctor and receiving his CHD diagnosis.Thankfully, a doctor from UHI from the family’s hometown knew about Morning Star Foundation and connected them to our team in Uganda. The vast majority of the children we serve in Uganda go to India for their heart operations. It can be a challenge for families to travel so far from home when many of them have never left their home villages in Uganda before. They prepare to travel and bravely go because they know that it is worth it for their child to have a chance at a healed heart. Our team has been trying for years to work with the Ugandan Heart Institute to have some heart operations happen in Uganda, but it has never worked out before due to a variety of reasons such as long waiting lists, limited ORs, and the complexity of the heart operations needed. We are so excited to share that, finally, with Fortune’s case, everything aligned perfectly for him to have his heart operation in Uganda! His parents were so relieved when they found out Fortune and his mother did not have to travel so far away for surgery- especially during Covid 19. His heart operation took place on April 14th, and it went smoothly. He is now back home with his family recovering from the operation. Fortune’s parents are deeply grateful their son has a healing heart and chance at being a kid again. We could not have helped Fortune without the help of an incredible family who sponsored his operation fully. We mean it when we say our supporters mean the world to us, and it means saving a life for kids like Fortune.