Baby Faith survives constructive surgery of Oesophagus

Faith Ortiz was born in August with an incomplete oesophagus; she was unable to consume any type of food. The situation looked grim for the newborn but when an appeal on this station went out for her condition, the International Hospital for Children stepped in to assist Faith and her mother, Dina Ortiz. Both mother and newborn were flown on August sixteenth to Richmond Virginia, where the infant underwent surgery to remedy the condition. If all goes according to plan, she will be back home soon.  Milagro Garel, International Hospital for Children’s Country Representative for Belize told News Five that the surgery was a success.

Milagro Garel, IHC Belize Country Representative

milagro garel

“Today we received word that Faith had a successful surgery so her reconstructed oesophagus has been completed and now it’s just a process of teaching her to feed, which should be without any problems.”

Jose Sanchez

“And the entire effort for this child was done through donations. Is that correct?”

Milagro Garel

“Yes, we are very pleased and thankful that as we did the story about three weeks ago, we had a wonderful correspondence between yourself and a donor from Canada who read the story and Faith grasped at her heart and she donated the transportation tickets and all of that. Some other Belizeans donated to the miscellaneous expenses.  Both faith and mom are doing well. They are at MCV in Richmond. She should be coming back in the next three or four weeks. Dr. Lanning, general pediatric surgeon will be visiting Belize in October at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and we will run a couple ads but it’s very important for the public to know that we will be having general pediatric surgeries to deal with very complicated issues that other surgeons in our country can’t handle.”

Jose Sanchez

“Dr. Lanning is surgeon who did the surgery on Faith?”

Milagro Garel

“Yes, Dr. Lanning is the General Pediatric Surgeon who has done Faith and has done many other cases as well for us.”

For more information on the International Hospital for Children, contact Milagro Garel at 223-7300.