Nataneal
Nataneal’s parents are committed to raising two healthy children. They live in Beni, a remote department in Bolivia with limited health services. When it became clear that young Nataneal had a heart defect, the parents did all that was possible to achieve heart surgery to repair the tiny boy’s interventricular communication. The goal was to ensure that the two-year-old boy’s blood could pass normally between the two ventricles.
The surgery was successful and a step forward. Nonetheless, the child continued to suffer shortness of breath, fatigue and dizziness. Even a common cold presented serious dangers to his survival.
It was evident that a second surgery was needed, now to address the cause of the little boy’s pulmonary hypertension. His pulmonary veins needed repair. The family sought to save what they could on the father’s salary as a carpenter’s helper. Warm-hearted grandparents invited the family of four to move in with them so that resources could be concentrated on Nataneal’s health.
The family traveled to Cochabamba where the Belga Hospital offers high-quality care. With the help of Solidarity Bridge and Dharma Social Projects, the family’s meager savings stretched and Nataneal achieved the treatment he needed, a surgery requiring extracorporeal oxygenation. This child now has a much happier future.