Gabriella

Six-month-old Gabriella was treated in 2020 for a serious heart condition at Auckland’s Starship Hospital in New Zealand. She recovered well from her surgery and is now a happy, healthy child with a great future ahead.

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Vinna

Vinna, from Vanuatu, first came to ROMAC in 2017 and followed a 2-year journey to repair a multiple fracture and infection of her right leg. The final stages of treatment required the insertion of a plate to stabilise the bone graft and Vinna was due to have this plate removed in April 2020. Covid-19 intervened Continued

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Vincent

Vincent is a Solomon Islands patient who arrived in Australia as a two-month old requiring urgent surgery to correct a blockage between his oesophagus and his stomach. This meant he had to be fed via a catheter into the stomach. Ten months later, after follow-up surgery, numerous hospital visits for day procedures, and constant monitoring Continued

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Viliame

Four-year-old Viliame arrived in New Zealand from Fiji, bouncing into the country and sprinting about the airport, unlike many of our heart patients who often arrive feeling quite poorly. He needed surgery to treat a coronary arterial fistula – a connection between one or more of the coronary arteries and a cardiac chamber or great Continued

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Jasminah

Jasminah is a 16-month-old girl from Vanuatu who failed to thrive from birth and had frequent respiratory tract infections. She was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) during a clinic held by Dr John Stirling in Vanuatu in early 2019. Jasminah and her mother Angelina arrived in Ronald McDonald House in Auckland, New Zealand Continued

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Verzi

Verzi, a fifteen-year-old girl from the Solomon Islands, arrived in Sydney with her carer, Aunt Vedna. She had rheumatic fever in 2015 and now needed the mitral valve in her heart replaced. Verzi had her pre-admission checks at the Westmead Children’s Hospital Heart Clinic, in preparation for her surgery. Her surgeon was Dr Ian Nicolson, Continued

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Mourine

Mourine, accompanied by her mother Ekila, arrived in Sydney to receive treatment for a large mass growing on her neck and chest. Their home is a small island in the north of the Solomon Islands where they live a subsistence life without modern conveniences, such as electricity. The culture shock on arrival in Sydney, where Continued

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Rachel

Rachel and her mother Victoria arrived in Auckland, New Zealand from Vanuatu in June. Rachel had a renal condition that needed to be resolved and the renal team at Starship Hospital promptly got to work to treat her. Rachel was accommodated in Ronald McDonald House and was hosted by the Rotary Club of Birkenhead. Under Continued

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Ken

Ken lives with his family in a remote village in the Solomon Islands where they have no running water or electricity. He was born prematurely at 6 months so he was taken by canoe to a clinic and then transported to hospital, where he spent the next 3 months. However, over time, his heart started Continued

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