20 children undergo lifesaving surgery thanks to R5-million donation
The Sibaya Community Trust has made an incredible donation in honour of King Goodwill Zwelithini.
After 50 years of heart surgery and a total of around 15,000 open heart procedures, Professor Robin Kinsley is not showing any signs of slowing down.
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Instead, as a pioneer in paediatric cardiac surgery, he decided to start a foundation that focuses on saving the lives and improving the health of children with congenital heart disease in and around Africa.
In 2019, The Children's Cardiac Foundation of Africa came to be.
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The funds they are able to raise and receive are used to train specialists in the field of paediatric cardiac care, as well as being used to conduct the very necessary and lifesaving heart surgeries.
In just two years, they have been able to set out what they had always planned to do, which is save the lives of children.
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However, cardiac surgery is not cheap and it takes a lot to be able to give one child the care they deserve.
In the last few days, some very exciting news has come to light: in honour of King Goodwill Zwelithini, the Sibaya Community Trust has made a generous donation of R5-million, which will be able to provide 20 children with the life-saving surgery they need!
This donation by Sibaya has enabled us to operate on at least 20 or more children in the memory of King Goodwill Zwelithini. I hope the contribution will be a starting point and that many others will come forward. My hope is that we have a tree of life that we will call the King Goodwill Zwelithini paediatric cardiac tree.
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Vivian Reddy, Chairman of Sibaya, also spoke to IOL about the donation and the plans they have for the future, saying that during his last meeting with King Goodwill Zwelithini, they discussed many different issues, but the King has always been fond of children.
The King had made his concerns known and spoke about how children with congenital cardiac problems have just been sent home to die without receiving the necessary medical treatment.
Now in his passing, by honouring the king's wishes, 20 lives will forever be changed for the better.
It is absolutely wonderful, a child comes into hospital blue because of lack of oxygen. To witness the parents see their child for the first time and a few days later getting up and walking out of hospital is very touching.
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We hope that all goes well for these kids and that they will be living happy, healthy lives soon.
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Main image courtesy of iStock