Nine-month-old needs N8m for heart surgery

The family of a nine-month-old boy, Victor Olubodin, has been thrown into panic after he was diagnosed with a critical heart condition.

Victor, a twin, is said to be in urgent need of surgery that will cost about N8m.

His mother, Mrs Adeola Olubodun, while speaking to City Round on Friday, said the family had not known peace since the child was diagnosed with the condition three months ago.

“The pregnancy was smooth. There was nothing suggesting that any of the babies had any condition,” she said.

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Mrs Olubodun said she was, however, shocked when after three months, Victor developed breathing difficulty and became overweight.

Concerned, the family took him to a hospital, where, after numerous tests, he was said to have developed double outlet right ventricle, aka a hole in the heart.

“It was like a dream. Everything happened fast. One moment we were celebrating, another moment, we were talking about surgery.

“In the space of nine months, I have been through what I have not been through my entire life, and I don’t want my son to die. He is the only son in the family. I cannot afford to lose him,” she added.

In a report, dated January 19, 2023, the Consultant Paediatric, Cardiologist from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Dr Olumuyiwa Folayan, who manages the nine-month-old, stated that he presented at the paediatric emergency room with ‘complaints of poor weight gain, frequent suck-pause cycles, recurrent cough and fast breathing that was noticed three months earlier’.

“His pregnancy and neonatal periods were uneventful and his twin sister is growing well.

“On examination, he had features of respiratory distress and coarse crepitation in his lungs. His pulse volume was bounding, regular and synchronous with a rate of 170 beats per minute. He had a precordial bulge, normal first heart sounds, a loud pulmonary component of the second heart sound and a grade 3/6 pan systolic murmur at the left lower sterna border.

“Chest X-ray showed cardiomegaly; he had ECG features suggestive of LAE and LVH, and echocardiography revealed double outlet right ventricle (DORV) with a large unrestrictive VSD and PDA.

“He was managed for pneumonia in heart failure on background DORV. He is currently on oral HCT and spironolactone at 1mg/kg for 12 hours every day while he awaits definitive surgical intervention. Victor would require open heart surgery to correct the cardiac defects,” the report read.

Victor’s mother revealed that the surgery would cost between N7.5m and N8m, adding that the surgery would be held in India.

Donations can be sent to the patient’s GTBank account, 0767243376 Olubodun Victor Joash.