Nagrin’s Family Receives the Bad News
On March 21, 2022, the Kurdish people celebrated Newroz, their new year and the arrival of spring. Newroz is not only a celebration of spring, but also of new beginnings and hope for the future. It is a festive occasion that showcases their culture and tradition, with picnics, fires, dances, and colourful outfits. However, for one family in Iraq’s Kurdish region, it was also a day of shock and grief.
We received a call early in the morning on that special day with an urgent request. The request was from someone we had helped before, whose child received life saving support from Love Them All just a few years ago. This time it wasn’t his child that needed help. His relative had just given birth to a baby boy named Nagrin, who had been diagnosed with a critical heart defect called TGA (transposition of the great arteries). This condition means that the two main arteries of the heart are switched, causing oxygen-poor blood to circulate throughout the body. It is a rare congenital heart defect that occurs in about 1 in every 2,500 live births worldwide. Without immediate intervention, Nagrin would not survive.
Fighting with Expectancy
Realizing the urgency of Nagrin’s situation we contacted Dr. Aso, a cardiologist in Sulaymaniyah, who agreed to see Nagrin on the same day despite it being a holiday. Nagrin was transported by ambulance to Sulaymaniyah and underwent a heart catheterization by Dr. Aso the next morning. This procedure creates an opening between the two upper chambers of the heart to allow some mixing of oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood. However, this was only a temporary solution. Nagrin needed a more complex surgery that could only be done abroad. It was time to work on the next phase of his treatment.
An Opportunity is Realized
Love Them All went straight to work to ensure Nagrin’s passport and travel documents were ready. We then connected with a very special doctor in Italy who had the expertise and experience that Nagrin needed. He explored a rare opportunity to apply for care at his hospsital, through a program for international patients. With a limited capacity the program would only accept a few international patients each year. Nagrin was a perfect fit and the timing of his application couldn’t have been better. Defying all odds, the hospital accepted Nagrin as a patient through the program which provided all the necessary support. This was an exceptional win, especially given that a very low percentage children worldwide are able to access this level of advanced care.
Amazingly, Nagrin was able to fly to Italy with his mother and receive the surgery that saved his life. Being the first time they traveled to another country, Nagrin’s doctor went above and beyond to make sure that Nagrin and his mother were well looked after. His family celebrated his return a little more than one month after his departure and Nagrin is now back home doing extremely well. We are proud to have played a small part in saving his life. We are so grateful for your love prayers and support, for Dr Aso and all the amazing doctors and hospital staff stationed locally and abroad all of which made his life saving surgery possible. Nagrin’s family is forever grateful.
