Maikel
Maikel is the oldest child of Nuria and Rafa who live in a mountainous region of La Paz, Bolivia. Rafa is a farmer and tends cattle for other farmers to support his family. In July, Rafa accompanied seven-year-old Maikel to Cochabamba to request help from Puente de Solidaridad for Maikel’s congenital heart condition.
When Maikel was born, doctors diagnosed him with several concerning heart issues including patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, and ventricular septal defect, and other cardiological problems. Maikel was kept in intensive care for the first two months of his life. Doctors recommended surgery, but Rafa and his wife Nuria, were very poor and afraid to pursue surgical treatment for their newborn. They decided to wait and hope that Maikel’s condition would improve.
Several years passed, and in June of this year, Nuria gave birth to the second of Maikel’s younger brothers. Soon thereafter, Maikel’s condition seemed to reach a point of crisis. Rafa shared, “Maikel is very small for his age. He is constantly agitated. Sometimes he turns blue from lack of oxygen. We have barely gathered funds for the delivery of our baby and now Maikel’s situation is serious. I am to blame for his condition. I have made some bad decisions, but now I realize we need to act quickly to save his life. We have gathered as much as we can. This surgery is very expensive. Only with your help will we be able to make this surgery possible.”
Through a collaboration with the Cardiozentrum Foundation in La Paz, Puente de Solidaridad, and with funding from the Goff Gift Fund, Maikel was scheduled for surgery at the Prosalud Clinic in Cochabamba. Dr. Carlos Brockmann performed the diagnostic catheter procedure and the open heart surgery to correct Mikael’s multiple heart defects. We are grateful for the support of so many who helped Mikael and his family through this health crisis and wish Mikael a full and timely recovery.