A three-year-old boy from Nelson Mandela Bay is doing well and is back at home after receiving life-saving heart surgery in Gauteng, three months ago.

Illario Arries was born with a hole in his heart and this was repaired during the operation.

Illario’s mother, Michelle, had to be dressed in scrubs and climb in a hospital bed in order to get her baby into the operating room.

Since he is so young, he nestled into his mother’s arms under a blanket and with his head on her chest, when he was wheeled into surgery. Michelle said that the relief she feels that her baby is better and able to eat well is something that cannot be explained, especially since she thought that her son was going to die.

“My baby is now eating like a normal child and is recovering very well.

“When I was told that we must travel to Johannesburg for the operation I was worried thinking that my son was going to die.

“I would like to urge all the mothers who are facing the same problem not to be afraid to take their children for an operation because it is the right thing to do.

“I would like to thank everyone who assisted him to undergo the much-needed treatment,” she said.

The surgery, performed at Busamed Private Hospital in Modderfontein, was made possible by the Pelo Foundation, a non-profit organisation that raises funds and creates awareness about conditions of children living with serious need of heart treatment and surgeries.

According to the foundation, South Africa has hundreds of children who are on the heart surgery waiting list.

It is estimated that one out of every 1 000 babies is born with congenital heart disease and that every six hours a newborn is added to the waiting list.

Currently, the Eastern Cape, alone, has more than 200 children who are on the waiting list for heart surgery.

At the same time Illario had his surgery, another boy from the Eastern Cape, eight-year-old Achuma Tshalana from KwaBacha (formerly known as Mount Frere), also had a hole in his heart repaired through the foundation.

Pelo Foundation spokesperson, Masoka Dube, said they had partnered with Busamed Private Hospital Group and Wings and Wishes, which provides transport for the patients and an accompanying guardian to Busamed Hospital and back home.

“The foundation aims at raising more funds to ensure that children with congenital heart disease receive life-saving surgery and continue to receive medical treatment that could give them a chance to live normal lives.

“Since its inception last year June, Pelo Foundation and its partners have already assisted seven children with the much-needed heart surgeries, and there are still more on the waiting list,” he said.