After 2 years of praying for a miracle to happen, the parents of 13-year-old, Thrisha Prasad, are grateful to the Sai Prema Foundation for allowing their daughter to be one of the first 27 children to have free surgery at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital in Nasese.
Thrisha's father, Radinesh Prasad says they knew that their daughter had heart problems in 2020 after a team from the Health Ministry conducted rheumatic heart disease testing at his daughter’s school in Taveuni.
He says the news was a shock to the family, but he was determined to do anything to ensure that his daughter will grow up and reach her full potential.
Prasad says he took his daughter for a check-up at the Health Centre in Taveuni and they advised him to take his daughter for a check-up at the CWM Hospital in Suva.
He adds the doctors also told them that Thrisha will need overseas medical treatment because no doctors were entering Fiji due to COVID-19.
Prasad says farming is their main source of income but everything went downhill after COVID-19 hit Fiji.
The farmer says a doctor was assisting them in connecting to the Children’s Hospital at Nasese.
He further says when they travelled to Suva in February this year for his daughter’s check-up, they received the good news that his daughter will be part of the first set of children to undergo free surgery at the children’s hospital.
He adds if his daughter’s name was not on the list, he would have continued to fundraise and do anything to pay for her medical treatment overseas.
The father of three says they would like to thank the staff of the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital, the medical team from USA, friends and family members who stood by them over the past 2 years.
