Doctors and NGO came forward to save the life of a 6-year-boy with heart disease

Donations by an NGO and by a few doctors at a government-run hospital in Noida saved the life of a 6-year-boy who had a congenital heart disease and needed an immediate surgery to implant a pacemaker.

Congenital heart disease is a birth defect that affects normal functioning of the vital organ. Pacemaker, a small battery-operated device implanted in the chest, controls heartbeat and is key to treating such defects.

The boy’s parents, factory workers in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, were referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Child Health, Noida, after their child felt dizzy, had black-outs and complained of breathlessness.

Doctors said they decided to operate on the boy to implant a pacemaker. As the family was poor, the surgery was covered by the central government’s Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK). But the pacemaker separately costs Rs 1.25 lakh and is not funded under the scheme.

Within no time, a Noida-based NGO – the Mahakal Maharaj Seva Mandir Trust — heard about the issue and donated Rs 90,000 for the boy, the doctor said. The remaining Rs 35,000 was pooled in by three doctors at the hospital.

As per reports of TOI, the surgery was carried out on March 28 and the child was discharged after some follow-up tests. He is healthy and recovering well, doctors said.

On Thursday, officials of the Mahakal Maharaj Seva Mandir Trust said they are thinking of ways to offer better jobs to the boy’s parents.