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NT Bureau
Chennai, July 3:
 

Sudanese boy Mohamed Mahmud who underwent a surgery in Chennai with his father Mahmud Sayed and Dr R Prem Sekar.

        It would not be wrong if you consider this as yet another case of medical tourism to India, especially to Chennai, as the medical facilities in the city attract more pediatric and adult cardiac patients from all parts of the world for the treatment is cheap and affordable here.

        The four-year- old Mohamed Mahmud, son of Mahmud Sayed of Sudan, was the new 'medical tourist' to the city, where he was operated upon to correct a congenital heart defect a week ago. He had been having the disorder since he was six months old.

        Mohamed, born to a poor labourer as only the child, has never seen any area other than Khartoum suburb, where he was born. His father could not afford an operation, as his earnings were just enough to run his family.

        But, the power of internet, has proved that it can help a boy with a 'new lease of life'.

        The boy had a ventricular septal defect: a hole between the two pumping chambers of the heart. So, more blood was rushing into his lungs, raising its pressure. His father thought it was the end of the road for his son as he cannot afford the huge money for the operation. Adding to it, Sudan did not have facilities to correct heart defects.

        When Mahamud's story was made known to a Sudanese woman at a local hospital, and when she saw the boy listless and crying against his mother's chest, she decided to get involved. She thought the best idea would be to put the story online (www.sudaneseonline.com) in the belief that the Sudanese who read it would be moved to save Mahmud. As expected, for this little heart, so many Sudanese hearts had beaten. Contributions poured in from the Sudanese. Once the contributions were accumulated, it was decided to take the boy to Frontier Lifeline Hospital here.

        Interventional paediatric cardiologist of Frontier Lifeline R Prem Sekar, said the timing of bringing Mohamed was perfect, as a little delay of months would have been proved fatal for his life. A team of surgeons under Dr K M Cherian and Christopher Roy, performed the surgery that brought smiles back on his face again. On Wednesday, Mohamed is returning home.