Patient Stories
“All children deserve a fighting chance.”Pediatric cardiology team put talent, passion and Philips Pediatric miniMulti TEE probe to work, performing 16 surgeries in six days.
"It is absolutely gratifying to see these happy healthy babies and their proud parents. We are so happy that we were able to provide this service for them." Dr. Mehra (R) with Mr. Gavas and 1-year-old Vendant. Two stories. One happy ending. Born in a rural clinic in a remote part of India, Vedant Bhau Gavas entered the world like most babies: kicking and screaming. Snuggled safely in his father’s arms, Vedant went home, unaware of the time bomb ticking away inside his tiny body. “We thought our son’s crying spells were normal but at six days old, he turned blue,” recalls Mr. Bhau Gavas, Vendant’s father. “We rushed him to the local hospital. They told us he was deteriorating and that he needed heart surgery.” Unemployed and with very little means, Mr. Gavas was desperate to raise the money required for his baby’s operation. Weeks passed and just when he thought all hope was lost, he learned of a special camp being held at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai. “I knew this was our only chance.”
Soumit Sureshkumar Kutty was just four months old when he and his mother, Vani Sureshkumar Kutty, made what would be the journey of a lifetime. “When my baby was born, the pediatrician told us there was a problem and that our baby would need surgery when he turned one year old; we had no idea that it was a heart problem,” recalls Mrs. Kutty. “Soumit was a particularly cranky baby and at four months old, he turned blue.” Mrs. Kutty rushed her baby to the local hospital in a rural part of India. “Soumit was in critical condition. We were put on the waiting list for surgery. Soon after we read an advertisement that a camp for babies such as ours would be held at Jaslok Hospital — we knew we must go.”
On July 4, Dr. Arun Mehra, Coordinator, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Jaslok Hospital, invited a seven-member team from Stanford University to jointly conduct a six-day workshop on advanced techniques of delicate and complex cardiovascular surgeries on India’s “blue babies.” Sponsored by Children’s HeartLink (Minneapolis, Minnesota), the U.S. team was led by V. Mohan Reddy, M.D., Chief, Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor, Stanford School of Medicine (Palo Alto, California).
“We notified healthcare providers throughout the area several weeks prior to this free care event. The response was overwhelming,” recalls Dr. Mehra. “Unfortunately, we could only take the most critical cases.” A total of 16 blue babies were selected based on the severity and urgency of their needs. Mr. Gavas' son and Mrs. Kutty's baby were two of the lucky ones.
"Dr. Reddy examined Soumit and told us that his condition was life-threatening," says Mrs. Kutty. “He immediately set about to perform surgery.” As for baby Gavas, he suffered from a rare condition where the two main arteries in his body had connected the wrong way. “The arteries had to be repositioned and reconnected and that required a complicated and delicate procedure referred to as a switch operation,” says Dr. Mehra. "Typically, children born with this defect die within the first few days of life. Fortunately, we had the team and the equipment we needed to perform the life-saving operation."
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