Nong Phichchakorn Phirat is the son of Ms. Supha Rat Rattanapong, who is a teacher at Ban Bang Tao School, Thalang District, Phuket Province. Ms. Supha Rat told us that she found out that Nong had a congenital heart defect because when Nong was about 2 years old, her mother took Nong to get vaccinated. The pediatrician who examined Nong noticed that Nong had strange breathing sounds, so she sent Nong to Vachira Phuket Hospital for further examination. The examination results showed that Nong had several holes in her heart wall, and Dr. Nakarin performed an echo examination on Nong. The doctor said that since Nong was still young, she should wait until Nong was older to see if the holes could close on their own. When Nong was about 7 years old, her mother took Nong to get another echo examination, and the doctor informed her that the holes in Nong’s heart had not closed yet and that she needed to undergo surgery. The doctor recommended endoscopic surgery and sent Nong to PSU Hat Yai Hospital. On the day of the surgery, the doctor came out to tell her that Nong’s surgery had a problem and could not close her heart because her heart chambers were not aligned. If the device was inserted, there was a risk that it would fall out and enter her lungs, which would be life-threatening. The doctor therefore terminated the surgery first.

The mother brought the results of the treatment back to consult with Dr. Nakarin in Phuket. The doctor therefore recommended that she request to transfer her son to have an open chest surgery at Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok. Would she agree? When she first heard this, she was very scared because an open chest surgery is a major surgery, so the risks are higher than before. However, after finding more information, the mother finally decided to take her son to have the surgery at Rajavithi Hospital.

When she arrived at Rajavithi Hospital, she met with Dr. Chusak. The doctor discussed the risks and informed her that if there were any expenses beyond the rights that the mother could claim, she did not need to worry because the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Foundation would help cover these additional expenses.

On the day of the surgery, the mother sat in front of the operating room anxiously because she was afraid that something unusual would happen to the son again. However, the doctor came out and said, “It’s all done, Mom. The doctor has closed both holes. The son is safe now. He has to stay in the room. He will let us visit later.” The mother’s tears flowed after hearing that her son was safe. After the surgery, the baby stayed in the hospital for only 6 days before being able to return home to continue her treatment.

The mother was very happy because from now on, the baby will be able to live a life like other normal children.