NEW DELHI: As part of Fortis Foundation’s Umeed Dhadkan initiative, a group of 15 children from Kashmir were treated for Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) in Gurgaon recently.

The free surgeries were supported by Rotary Club of Delhi East End, Have A Heart Foundation along with Fortis Foundation. The team of doctors was led by Dr Vijay Agarwal, Director and Head of Department, Paediatric Cardiology, FMRI.

Umeed Dhadkan is an initiative under Fortis Foundation’s Aanchal programme. It acknowledges that children should not be deprived an opportunity to lead a healthy life due to economic constraint. Under the initiative, as many as 4331 children have been treated from different parts of the country.

One of these children is a four-year-old girl, Adeeba Farooq. She had high fever and bouts of coughing that left her weak, breathless and, at times, turned blue. The CHD was diagnosed when a local doctor advised her to undergo a 2D ECHO. Her father, who earns his livelihood as a daily wage worker, could not afford an expensive surgery required to cure her. She was taken to a health camp organized by Rotary Club of Delhi East End.

Jasbir Grewal, Head, Fortis Foundation said, “In collaboration with our partners, we reach out to children whose families don’t have the capacity to get their children treated.”