On October 19th, 2013, ICHF medical volunteers arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with one mission in mind: curing as many children of their congenital heart defects as possible in three-weeks-time.

Grecia Maria Lanza is a six-year-old, beautiful little girl, who received her heart surgery on October 21st. Grecia was diagnosed with a heart defect at the age of two-months-old and stayed in the hospital for one month as doctors informed her parents of her heart murmur. She loves to dance and paint, but would often find herself tired and out of breath. Little Grecia’s heart would also begin beating abnormally rapid, which made her feel very uncomfortable. Doctors advised Grecia’s family to wait until she was four-years-old to see if the hole in her heart would close naturally. Unfortunately, it did not, and for two years she has been waiting for help.

Her mother was concerned that the current state of healthcare in Honduras was not advanced enough to risk having her surgery here. She was also advised that it would cost much more money than they have.

Grecia was the first patient on ICHF’s surgical schedule. She received an ASD repair by ICHF surgeon, Dr. Kathleen Fenton, who repaired her heart with a pericardial patch. This patch is actually taken from within the heart, and is used to close the hole that allows oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood to cross over into different chambers of the heart.

Grecia is shown here after only one day post-surgery. ICHF has honed a Fast Track system that allows children to recover very quickly after their operation. Little Grecia was smiling as she left the ICU, and was discharged the next day.

This pretty little girl will now have the opportunity to live a normal life. Her family is very grateful for our team’s ability to come and perform these types of surgeries in complex environments. Grecia said that she hopes to grow up and become a doctor so that she can help others, similar to how she has been helped. Her mother says that they are very fortunate for the help of ICHF, as there is a lack of highly trained cardiovascular doctors in Honduras.

Thanks to the support of our donors and volunteers, Grecia left the hospital on October 24th.