Feb 10, 2009 4:30 pm US/Eastern
Hospital, Club Give Child Gift Of Life
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
A little girl from Panama who needed a life-saving operation is getting the gift of life -- all thanks a generous local hospital and the kindness of strangers here in the Boston area.
It's something the girl's family never thought possible.
Two-year-old Brigitte Flores and her twin sister were born with several potentially life-threatening heart defects which could not be treated in Panama. But thanks to a program sponsored by the Rotary Club called the
Gift of Life, Brigitte was flown to Mass. General Hospital for Children, where surgeons performed a life-saving heart operation for free.
"I think we're talking about a little girl and give her back to her mother- with a full life expectancy and the ability to all the things every little girl should, always makes us feel really great," said pediatric cardiac surgeon Dr. Jeff Myers.
Brigitte's mother, Yisel, explains that she never imagined she would be here in the U.S. Brigitte's family is being hosted by the Boston University Sargent College Rotaract Club which is caring for them during their stay.
"It's an amazing opportunity for them, for us, the students and faculty involved in this at BU," said BU Alum and faculty member Roberto Trevino.
"It's wonderful and very gratifying to be in world where we can help each other no matter where they are in the world, we can help them," said Karen Jacobs of BU's Sargent College Rotaract Club.
Doctors say Brigitte is doing amazingly well and should be able to leave the hospital next week.
Mass. General and the Rotary Club are now working to bring her twin sister here to Boston, so she can also get the life-saving operation.
If you'd like to find out more about the Rotary Club's Gift of Life New England program, log onto
www.golne.org.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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