Foundation Blesses Young Family

Maikale Vakaloloma was devastated when doctors said her baby son, her only child, had two holes in his heart.

She was given the diagnosis when she visited the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva early this year.

Her motherly instincts had been telling her something was not right because her son, Ratu Noa Rokomaqu, was not breathing well.

Ratu Noa was wheeled to the Neonatal Inten­sive Care Unit at the same hospital at two weeks old as doctors looked for ways to fix his heart.

“It was hard to accept it because that’s my baby boy and we have been so careful in caring for him when he was still in my womb,” she said.

“My husband (Noa Rokomaqu Snr) and I live all the way in Nakoroivau in Tailevu and it is very costly for us to come here.

“We were helpless and did not know what to do but our faith in God was strong.”

The couple was told that the baby’s surgery would cost thousands of dollars. Mr Rokomaqu Snr is a farmer and wife Ms Vakaloloma is a screen printer.

They were helpless as the money they were earning was nowhere near the required amount.

But thanks to the Sai Prema Foundation, the duo were told the surgery costs were on the house. Ratu Noa was then transferred to the hospital where everything was free, even the surgery.

Ratu Noa got his heart fixed at six months old and his parents were the proudest last week when they saw their baby was full of smiles.

“To see my son being this happy is the best gift I could ever get,” said Ms Vakaloloma.

“Given that we did not have to pay for any­thing, I just could thank the foundation enough for everything they had provided us with, espe­cially the life of my son.

Ratu Noa’s heart is due for a review next month.

Gift of Life

The Foundation through the Gift Of Life offers free heart surgeries to the underprivileged and needy Children of Fiji and the Pacific.

The Foundation has operated and saved 103 children since it began early this year.

“The Foundation identified this area of great need and has embarked on a mission to save the lives of hundreds and thousands of children in Fiji and the Pacific, who without interven­tion, do not survive,” according to its website.

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