Mission Madagascar

On October 24, 2019, a team flew to Mécénat Chirurgie CardiaqueMadagascar for a 9-day mission. We were keen to see our operated children again (to date, 220 Malagasy children have come, the first of this long list was welcomed in 1997) and to contribute to the care of children awaiting surgery.

A team of experts

- Pascale Grais: Association Medical Director

- Dr Constance Beyler: Head of the Cardio-Pediatric Department atHôpital Robert Debré

- Jean-Luc Chesneau: Volunteer host family and coordinator of the Association'sNantes branch.

- Nicolas Peschard: Imaging Manager at Philips, one of the Association's corporate sponsors, which financed this mission.

- Anne Abi-Hatem: Volunteer in charge of school and medical sponsorship for children undergoing surgery

- Madeleine Reyal: student volunteer, daughter of Dr. Constance Beyler

Mission: medical follow-up

To prepare this mission, we were able to count on the help of Dr. Nivo Ramamonjisoa, in charge of medical evacuations for children with heart disease for La Chaîne de l'Espoir, and Dr. Dany Ravaoavy, cardiologist at the military hospital. These free consultations provided by the Association are an exceptional opportunity for the country's cardiac children to see a doctor. Some of them came from far and wide to meet our medical team. In all, 106 children were seen.

Among them:
- 60 operated children were reviewed, 5 of whom will return for the^2nd stage of their surgery.
- 46 children were new cases, of whom 25 require cardiac surgery, and 21 medical follow-up.
- To date, 6 children have been operated on in France.

Beyond the mission: school sponsorship

Alongside the consultations, Anne and Madeleine visited schools and met children operated on and sponsored by Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. In particular, they had the pleasure of meeting Gilbert, a 17-year-old who had undergone surgery twice in Paris.
Gilbert lives with his mother, brothers and sisters in the suburbs of Tananarive, in very modest conditions. First treated in December 2010 for a severe heart condition known as Shone syndrome, he will return for a second operation in September 2017.
 

He is now in 1ère at the Lycée les Bons Amis, close to his home. A small private school with few resources but excellent results! Gilbert turned out to be a very good student, having only repeated his 3rd year because of his long hospitalization during his^2nd stay in France. Very happy to see our teams again, he explained how lucky he felt to have benefited from these two operations, which now enable him to lead a normal life and study. It has even revealed a vocation in him: to become a doctor, so as to give other children in his country the chance to receive treatment.

There is no greater joy for our team than to see the strength and determination that former children undergoing surgery can show to make their dreams come true... and perhaps save other lives like Gilbert!

This mission would not have been possible without Philips, a loyal sponsor of the Association, who finances the majority of our missions. Many thanks to them and to all the team members who did such a fantastic job!

We would also like to thank the Association La Chaîne de l'Espoir, who kindly welcomed us to their consultation facilities at the Hôpital Militaire throughout our stay.