Doctors beat the clock to save baby’s life with emergency heart surgery
Despite being on a waiting list for July, his condition worsened, and doctors feared he might not survive until then. Dante had surgery at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital three months earlier than initially scheduled.
Dante van der Heever, who was born with a heart defect, received lifesaving surgery at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, and his parents couldn’t be more grateful to the medical teamwork spanning the private and public sectors.
His mother, Jennifer, said they noticed that there was something wrong with Dante soon after his birth in January. “He was very difficult to settle; he cried and cried, and he wasn’t gaining strength and weight as he should have,” she recalled.
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The family then struggled to make ends meet while their son was examined by specialists at Mankweng Hospital and Polokwane Hospital. He was admitted for two weeks in the intensive care unit at Tshilidzini Hospital.
“He barely slept, we knew that he struggled with his heart. He couldn’t even drink properly, and then he would be out of breath and sweating. We sat day and night awake with him in our arms. It was tough; even now, it is very emotional to think back on that time.”
The little boy was put on a waiting list to have the operation at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, however, the earliest date available was July 6.
“The doctors found that the situation was even more urgent. One part of his heart was doing all the work; blood wasn’t going to his lower body and organs, and they said Dante’s heart could stop at any second – there was a real danger that Dante wouldn’t make it to July.”
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Doctors started to race against time looking for other ways to help him get the operation sooner, turning to the Netcare Foundation and the Maboneng Foundation, which co-ordinates funding and specialist services to help paediatric patients in the public sector who require lifesaving heart procedures.
Dr Erich Schürmann, who led the medical team that donated their time and expertise pro bono to assist Dante at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital, admitted his condition was extremely serious.
“We knew we had to find a way to help. Newborn babies’ hearts work a little differently to ours, as there is an artery called the ductus arteriosus that naturally closes soon after birth, then the descending thoracic aorta fully takes over the function of perfusing the infant’s abdominal organs and legs with oxygenated blood.
“In his case, there was a narrowing in a section of this artery in a condition known as coarctation of the aorta, which is more common in males. The condition accounts for approximately 5% of all congenital heart defects with a reported prevalence of about 4 per 10 000 live births.”
Netcare’s general manager of emergency Mande Toubkin said there is an overwhelming need for time-sensitive paediatric heart operations, which require highly specialised skills and healthcare resources.
“Given the extreme urgency of Dante’s heart lesion, and following a successful application to the Netcare Foundation, he was booked for surgery on April 4, three months earlier than originally scheduled.”
Jennifer said, “when my husband told me, I didn’t believe him, until we had to send copies of our IDs and all Dante’s hospital letters and referrals, then I started to realise what was really happening. We were so happy. It felt like a dream come true.”
Dante made a rapid recovery in the specialised paediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit after the procedure and was discharged from the hospital just three days later. Today, Dante is a bouncing baby boy, putting on weight and heading towards a full recovery every day.
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