
Eight years old Amina Ibrahim is a charming young girl. She lives in Mombasa county and is the fifth born in her family.
She knew nothing else but pain in her early childhood. She presented symptoms of congenital Heart disease at the age of one month. An ECHO test was done by a Mombasa-based cardiologist and she was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot(TOF).
She grew up as a weakly child who could hardly play with her peers or engage in any childhood games. Amina was simply her mother’s child.
At the age of 3 years, little Amina could depend on her mom for everything. Her body grew weaker and weaker as days passed by and most of her milestones were delayed. With less oxygen circulation in her body, she had a bluish coloring on her tongue, fingers, and toes.
Her mother’s love and care kept her going. She would always carry her little one on her back as she could hardly walk.
Worst moments were when her little girl would get breathless and pass out.
She watched it happen so many times and every time it would happen she would not freak out but watched her girl go into a deep sleep and hoped that she would wake up after 15 minutes or so.
Visits to various hospitals around Mombasa and in Nairobi bore no fruit. Every doctor who saw Amina said her case was urgent and could not be operated on locally. She was required to be flown out of the country for urgent heart surgery in an advanced heart center before the surgery window closed.
The most difficult year for her family was 2018, Amina could hardly eat and that meant that she grew weaker. There were several hospital admissions to try and keep her stable. She had recurring pneumonia, could not walk, and was bedridden.
At this particular time, her loving mum was heavily expectant and with the birth of her last born the same year her attention was now divided but was lucky to have elder siblings who could help.
Her mom could speak to her in local language and encourage her to be strong as she would one day get well, play, and go to school like other kids of her age.
Through a medical tourism company, the family got a quote from a hospital in India but could hardly raise the required amount.
In spite of the odds, her mum by faith applied for travel passports and visas to fly to India but time went by and luck didn’t knock at their door.
A light by the end of the tunnel shinned when a distant relative gave them the contact of CFACH executive director in 2019.
She followed up with the family to get the child registered in the program and through CFACH, the child got sponsored to get a repeat ECHO done since what was there was already outdated.
A new ECHO report, ECG and moving images were sent to Chain Of Hope (a UK based charity) and the case was on their waiting list for over six months.
All this time Amina was in so much pain and her mum kept calling CFACH contact person every day hoping to get some good news.
At some point, the hope of seeing her little get treated dwindled but through prayers, she kept believing and hoping above all odds.
In early 2020 Chain Of Hope approved Amina’s surgery sponsorship at their center in Aswan – Egypt.
As preparations were underway to have the young girl fly out, the global COVID 19 pandemic hit, and international travels were restricted. This was a bitter experience for the entire family since the child’s condition was getting worse.
After a long wait, the travel restrictions within Africa were decreased and in August of 2021, the young girl with her mother in the company of Dr.Agenta Odera flew to Aswan Heart Centre in Egypt where surgery was done.
She flew back home in October 2021 and to everyone’s shock. she had so much energy to walk up and down the stairs. Gave endless stories of her experience at the hospital. To CFACH family, this was the Amina we hoped to see one day. Her smile melts our hearts to date.