Baby receives life-saving surgery

After a five month wait, baby Luvolwethu Mana - who was born with a rare congenital heart defect - finally received life-saving surgery on Wednesday morning.

This, after the Eastern Cape department of health called on private surgeons to step in and assist.

The province does not currently have a cardio-thoracic surgeon on staff that can perform surgeries on children.

As a result, children were sent to Red Cross Hospital or hospitalised pending surgery.

The department said because of Luvolwethu's life-threatening situation, they paid for the baby to have surgery at Life St George's Hospital. 

"Yoh, I am so very happy now," her mom, Gloria, 33, said.

She had given up her job as a general worker in Somerset East to be with her baby in hospital.

She said doctors told her the surgery was a success and Luvolwethu was in the intensive care unit, and doing very well. 

“You could play with her one minute and the next moment she would turn blue. She would just stop breathing. Her heart stopped beating. It was like she just cut out," Mana said.

Since Luvolwethu was born in August, she had been in and out of hospitals.

She was permanently hospitalised and awaiting surgery since January 3, having spent several weeks in the intensive care unit.

With a number of children on the waiting list, the Eastern Cape department of health said last week that as they do not have a cardio-thoracic surgeon on staff that can do heart surgeries on children, they will ask private surgeons to step in.

Eastern Cape health department deputy director-general for clinical and support services, Dr Rolene Wagner, said earlier this month they had also received a grant from the Discovery Foundation to train a specialist heart surgeon for the public sector. 

Eastern Cape department of health spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha did not respond to a request for comment.