A few years ago, Amal, a 47-year-old Syrian, was diagnosed with one of her heart valves not closing properly. As a result, Amal's heart had to work harder and became increasingly damaged. Even light everyday activities exhausted Amal, and she suffered from shortness of breath. An improvement in her quality of life, as well as her life expectancy, could only be achieved through surgery. Unemployed due to the civil war in Syria, Amal was unable to pay for the operation herself. A relative of hers therefore turned to ‘we care’ in search of help.

The operation had to be postponed twice due to further medical clarifications, but finally the surgery could be performed in the special clinic “Martyr Bassel Al-Assad Hospital of Heart Diseases and Surgery” in Damascus on August 29, 2019. In an operation lasting several hours, the defective heart valve was replaced with an artificial one and another valve was repaired. Both the surgical procedure and the days that followed were without complications so that Amal could be discharged home just six days after the operation.

Amal

Amal after the heart surgery that went well

Amal will be dependent on medication for the rest of her life but she has a good chance of living a mostly normal life after recovering from her surgery, and her life expectancy has also improved significantly as a result of the surgery.

July 2020
Nine months after the heart operation, Amal is doing well. She is once again able to do household chores for which she had no strength before the operation. The breathlessness she felt even during minor exertions has disappeared. Amal is more confident about the future even though the material hardship caused by the civil war in Syria, which has been going on since 2011, deprives her and her family more and more, and the money is only enough for the bare necessities.

Amal needs regular medical check-ups and has to take medication every day. However, she has clearly gained in quality of life through the operation for which she is very grateful.

Amal

Amal in June 2020

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