success stories

Our Haitian patients do very well after heart surgery and return to productive lives in Haiti. Haitian Hearts continues to provide medicines and care for those patients who need it. Please read about the transformed lives of our Haitian friends.

Suze - Like many Haitian Hearts patients, Suze had heard of Dr. John's success in bringing people to the United States, and sought him out. One day, she appeared at the guest house where John was staying, short of breath with a loud heart murmur. Suze's heart was damaged by rheumatic heart disease, an illness of the past in the United States. At some point in her youth, Suze contracted strep throat. Because of the lack of medical care, including inexpensive antibiotics, in Haiti, Suze never received treatment for her strep and it developed into rheumatic fever, which seriously damaged her heart valves.

By the time Suze saw Haitian Hearts, she needed a new heart valve. After many months of searching, Haitian Hearts found a medical center and surgeon in Provena St. Joseph Medical Center and Dr. Bryan Foy willing to operate on Suze. Suze journeyed to the United States together where her surgery to replace her diseased valve with an artificial St. Jude valve was a resounding success. When Suze arrived in the United States, she was not able to walk down a hallway without frequent rests. Afterwards, as she put it, "I am having success dreams."

Suze is pictured above on the right with another Haitian Hearts patient, Katia.

 

Miterlande - Miterlande's sister brought her from the countryside into Port-au-Prince to see Dr. John. Miterlande had been told that she had a heart problem, a problem John was able to confirm with an echocardiogram done in Port-au-Prince. Miterlande was accepted at Provena St. Joseph in Joliet and had surgery in 2008 which fully corrected her heart problem. She is now working hard in school and her beautiful smile continues to shine.

Christelle - A former Haitian Hearts patient brought three-year-old Christelle to us. She had a congenital heart defect called a PDA. The good news is that this defect can be repaired without open heart surgery. The bad news is that there is no place in Haiti that does this kind of repair. Fortunately, Christelle was accepted by Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis. She had her PDA closed in cardiac cath lab and was up playing the next day. She continues to grow and do all the things that healthy children can do.

Frandy is a young man with a dream and that dream is attending college in the United States. But before this dream could become a possibility, Frandy needed medical attention for his congenital heart defect. Haitian Hearts brought him to St. Louis Children's Hospital where he received medical treatment but thankfully did not need surgery. Upon his return to Haiti, he graduated from high school and after much effort was accepted by a college in the United States. Through the generosity of his host family, Jim and Jane Ebel, Frandy is now attending college in Illinois.

 

Katina is a very intelligent little girl from a loving family, who has battled serious health problems. Besides her heart defect, she also has sickle cell anemia. She recently made her second trip to the United States for heart surgery. Haitian Hearts continues to follow and treat patients after their surgeries, providing them when necessary with medicine and diagnostic treatment. In Katina's case, this proved life-saving as she needed additional surgery. In 2009, she had surgery at Cleveland Clinic. With her healthy new heart, her overall health is greatly improved and Katina laughs and plays like any other child.

Maurico - In 2007, John received a desperate phone call from a Haitian-American in Boston. He had a friend in Haiti, who had a baby with a serious heart problem. On John's next trip, 9-month-old Mauricio's parents brought him to see John. The heart problem was confirmed and Haitian Hearts presented Mauricio's case to St. Louis Children's Hospital and offered $10,000 to help pay for his care. Mauricio was accepted, traveled to St. Louis with his mother, and sailed through open heart surgery. He was out of the hospital in a week and is now growing and thriving with his family in Haiti.

Please visit our "Live from Haiti" blog for more information about Haitian Hearts stories.