6-Year-Old Haitian Boy To Have Heart Surgery In Israel

Without the complicated surgical procedure he will in all probability not reach the age of 10.

Haitian boy to undergo heart surgery in Israel
Six-year old Wadley to arrive in Israel on flight with returning delegation for life-saving surgery
Noam Barkan • Ynet

PORT-AU-PRINCE- Six-year old Wadley Elysee, a resident of a small Haitian village, will join the returning Israeli delegation on an El Al flight home Thursday. It will be the boy's first time on an airplane, and he says he is very excited.

Wadley is suffering from four different heart defects, which keep oxygen from circulating properly through his body. If he does not undergo a complicated surgical procedure he will in all probability not reach the age of 10.

But an ambulance will be awaiting him at the airport in Israel, in order to transport him directly to Wolfson Hospital in Holon.

"Two months ago they sent Wadley's heart echo test from Haiti to us at Wolfson, and we decided that he had to be operated on," says Dr. Yuval Levy, who ran the premature baby ward at the field hospital established by the Israeli delegation to Haiti.

"But until now he could not be brought to Israel. The medical team succeeded in finding him here and we are bringing him with us to Israel. In the coming days he will undergo the surgery he needs at Wolfson."

Wadley will arrive in the country with help from the Save a Child's Heart (SACH) organization, which is based in Wolfson and for many years has been bringing children with fatal heart abnormalities to Israel for complicated surgical procedures.

"If he remains this way, without surgery, he will not survive until age 10," Dr. Levy says. "Even today he cannot go to school because his heart can't handle the walk." Wadley will be accompanied by his aunt.