Dr. Amanda Madison with Children Returning from Israel - Photo Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio, April 9, 2024

Ten South Sudanese children who underwent heart surgeries in Israel in January this year have safely returned home.

The families of the ten South Sudanese children express gratitude to South Sudan and Israel the governments for saving their children’s lives through successful heart surgeries.

27-year-old Liong Annet and her 1-year-old son Nyombe Dalton arrived in Juba at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Nyombe had been struggling with a heart complication since he was 3 months old, causing breathing difficulties.

Annet shared that her son underwent successful surgery for truncus type 2 at Edith Wolfson University Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is now doing well.

“My son had heart problems when he was just 3 months old. I am grateful to God because we found a way for him to have surgery,” Annet expressed.

“Now, he is much better. Previously, he used to cry all night and couldn’t rest, but now I can see significant improvement. I thank God for this,” she added.

“These doctors are lifesavers for our children. Without them, our children wouldn’t be alive today. They are angels to us,” Annet concluded gratefully.

Liong Annet, 27, smiling after returning to Juba on Tue, 9th April 2024 with her 1-year-old son Nyombe Dalton. Photo Credit: Charles Wote | Eye Radio

The children who were flown to Israel in January this year were diagnosed with different types of congenital heart disease – structural abnormalities that occur in children at birth.

The condition is in the form of a hole in the heart’s wall, affecting the heart’s walls and blood vessels, and disrupting normal blood flow.

Jackline Elias is a 32-year-old mother from the Dar el Salaam residential area in Yei River County of Central Equatoria State.

According to Jackline, her second-born, Sidonia Kwaje, suffered from congenital heart disease for six years.

The condition was diagnosed at the age of one in Uganda, but Jackline said she travelled to DR Congo in search of treatment and a solution for her daughter’s well-being.

Sidonia’s mother says she was puzzled after hearing about her daughter’s condition.

“By that time when they told me that my child was supposed to be taken for heart surgery, indeed I lost hope. I was crying I said will she be fine? Will she be alive because the heart is the human life,” Sidonia said.

“But because of the counselling of the doctors in Al Sabbah Hospital, special doctor Amanda, she gave us a lot of solutions, a lot of counselling so I developed my hope,” she said.

In 2022, Sidonia underwent screening in Juba where she was found to have Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), which includes a hole in the heart wall and an obstruction in the pulmonary valve.

Jackline Elias says she is happy her daughter underwent two successful surgeries, including open-heart surgery in Israel.

“I took two months in Israel; the two surgeries were successful. The first was catheterization, the second was open-heart surgery. So those were all successful,” said Jackline.

“I was so happy and now she has no difficulty, she can walk a long distance, she can play, she has no problem with the heart problem anymore,” she said.

As of 2022, a total of 15 South Sudanese children have undergone successful heart surgery in Israel with support from Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli charity organization providing cardiac healthcare to children around the world.

In July 2023, the organization conducted screenings in South Sudan where 63 children were diagnosed with heart diseases and required cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgery.

Dr. Amanda Madison, a paediatrician at Al Sabah Children’s Hospital and a coordinator of Save a Child’s Heart says they are finalizing the process for 13 more children to go to Tel Aviv for heart surgeries.

“In 2024 January the 9th, 10 of these patients, went to Israel and all of them came back and the last patient just arrived today, today is the 9th of April. So far, 15 children have been operated and they are doing well,” Dr Amanda said.

“I have prepared 13 patients, they are supposed to be 17, but one person in August and the other one in December so they remain 15,” she said.

“The other two, I lost their contact of trying to find them through Eye Radio, but they did not appear. So, I have prepared 13 patients and their process is still ongoing, they might go soon.” 

While explaining what congenital heart disease means, Dr. Amanda Madison advised parents to take their children to appropriate health facilities whenever the child is sick. 

“Most of them are suffering from a condition called congenital heart disease, so this is a heart problem born to a child,” she said.

“In medical terms, it will be difficult for the patients to understand, we just tell them that these children have holes in their hearts, this whole makes the blood flow in an abnormal way making babies breathe very fast and they cannot tolerate the exercise,” Dr Amanda said.

“They cannot play, they cannot run but some of these children have what we call acquired heart disease most of it is romantic so they were born normally with normal heart, but they develop it after delivery like when they are old.

“My message to the parents is when a child is sick don’t move with a child to the clinic because sometimes the problem is so serious, that people in the clinic will not be able to diagnose it, but at least if you come to the hospital and see a specialist, they will be able to diagnose and give you proprietary treatment.”

For her part, Jacqueline Lawrence, a nurse at Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital who accompanied the sick children for heart surgery in Israel, expressed her gratitude for the successful heart surgeries of South Sudanese children.

“I was the one who took the child to the specialized doctor and if there were questions, so, I also translated to the mother,” Jacqueline said.

“When the child is taken to the ward, I as the nurse take the responsibility like the mother. I bring everything the needs and I sleep next to the sick child,” she said.

“I am happy to see the children coming out of the situation they were in it was a bad situation and I am happy that they are all in good health now.”