Manuel
Manuel turned seventeen in the hospital, awaiting his heart surgery. He had been hospitalized for over two months in Hospital Viedma, the largest public hospital in Cochabamba. Due to Covid-19 regulations and high infection rates, he was not able to receive visits. This was further complicated by the fact that his family lives in a rural town and travel was very hard for them.
Manuel was not only feeling weakness in his body, he also felt isolated and abandoned by family and friends.
After many diagnostic tests, some related to his heart and others to his stomach, Manuel was sent to the Belga Hospital so they would do a cardiac catheterization. He was diagnosed with a severe atrial septal defect (ASD) that should have been surgically fixed when Manuel was a young child. The catheterization also showed an enlarged right ventricle, tricuspid regurgitation, and pulmonary hyper-flux. Manuel needed surgery to fix his ASD. After a couple of weeks, he had this much needed surgery at ProSalud Hospital in Cochabamba in late April.
Manuel’s father is a day laborer in the tropical region of the Chapare in lowland Cochabamba. From the sale of fruits and vegetables, he roughly makes US$75 a month which covers the family’s basic needs of food and water. Manuel’s mother is expecting a baby and takes care of Manuel’s younger four siblings. Without the support of Solidarity Bridge’s Children Heart Surgery Program and the Goff Gift Fund, Manuel’s surgery would not have been possible. Manuel is very thankful for the opportunity to have had this life saving surgery and is eager to recuperate and go back to his family home in rural Cochabamba:
I am very grateful to you who are helping to make my surgery a reality. I will put everything from myself to get better soon. The only thing I want is to return to my home and be with my siblings who I miss a lot.