Once upon a time in a land far, far away, in the village of Kabaya, just below the Congolese volcanoes, there lived a little girl called Fazila… This story starts like a fairy tale and it is hard to believe that it is not. But it is another one of those miracles, of which you are the co-authors!

One day, completely by chance, Sister Agnieszka met the aunt of 5-year-old Fazila. She told her about the girl’s strange seizures, after which she would lose consciousness for some time. The village suspected that the little one was a victim of evil spirits… Sister Agnieszka asked her aunt to bring Fazila to our hospital.

Fazila’s first test results, including a frighteningly low saturation, left no doubt. The girl required an immediate cardiological consultation. Further diagnostics and an echocardiogram performed in Goma confirmed our doctors’ suspicions – the little one suffered from Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect that combines four conditions leading to poor heart function and hypoxia. The only solution for Fazila was a heart operation – without it, she would only live to the age of 15 at the most.

Our doctors began a long battle, looking for a centre that would accept Fazila and operate. Finally, after two years of overcoming numerous obstacles brought about by the general world situation, Fazila was accepted by the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque in France and underwent surgery. She returned to Congo after three months, but already as a completely different child. She was finally able to run around and play with other children, without the fear that the slightest effort would end in another attack leading to unconsciousness. Fazila’s condition is now very good, which is confirmed by monthly check-ups at our hospital.

It is thanks to you that Fazila was able to have the operation! During the two years that we were looking for a centre for her, you paid for her medical consultations, tests and medicines that enabled her to stay alive. Finally, when the operation was authorised, you helped us to obtain all the necessary documents, which amounted to a whole book. But that is not all!

Doctors from the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque in France, seeing the great commitment of Dr Patience, who managed as well as consulted on Fazila’s case with them, offered him specialised online training in paediatric cardiac surgery. He recently completed a year-long, very intensive course. You, in turn, have done an amazing thing! You donated a state of the art EKG machine to our hospital, the likes of which do not exist in the whole of North Kivu. The machine makes it possible to detect many illnesses and examine children from the very first day of their life! It allows Dr Patience to consult French cardiologists on serious cases, sending them video and images of the children’s heart echoes. We are now preparing to send another two children for surgery in France.

We never dreamt that little children from our region – in the middle of the equatorial forest, which can only be navigated by a four-wheel-drive car – would be able to receive a cardiological diagnosis and consequently be given life. It is thanks to your support and the wonderful staff that our hospital, despite being located in such difficult-to-access terrain, stands apart from everything around it. The fives you donate turn into tens, twenties and finally hundreds of thousands of zlotys, and from them we create stories that you would think only happen in fairy tales. Help us continue to ensure the smooth running of the hospital by checking out GoodWorks 24/7 today, buying even an IV for a patient – each one is worth a LIFE.