Baby Victoria Ajayi Undergoes Successful Corrective Heart Surgery

Baby Victoria and a surgeon

by Ahaoma Kanu

Some hours after more than one billion people worldwide witnessed the historic swearing in of the 44th and first African-American President of the United States of America (U.S.A), Barrack Obama, a group known as the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) kept vigil at night offering prayers and supplication to the same God not for the new President who had ten balls to attend thousands of miles in Washington, they were spiritually clearing the way for one of their babies who left the shores of the country to have her defective heart corrected.

Baby Victoria and her mother

Baby Victoria Ajayi is a 14-month old Nigerian child with curly hair and a chubby cheek, her complexion was appealing and she radiated a smile that was infectious, she was the fourth child of a retired Post officer worker, Prince Ajayi and  mother, Kemi who was a  full time housewife who confessed that the joy of having another daughter was short lived on knowing she had a genetic disorder; a condition known as Down Syndrome where one has an extra chromosome than the normal 46 as well as having a hole in the heart, can now smile as brighter days looms ahead; Baby Victoria Ajayi has undergone the corrective heart surgery at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangolore, India and all went well.

The journey towards repairing her ailing heart started when the couple came in contact with the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN), the association which assured them that they will take the child for corrective heart surgery in India , according to the father, that seemed like a joke.

“When I met the association at their Ogunlana Drive Office at Surulere, Lagos , they assured me that my baby will be taken for the surgery, I had never believed such group existed in this country,” he said.

The Association held a fund raising drive for Baby Victoria during their Awareness Week Dinner in September last year and with the help of Rosabel Advertising Agency, which took the matter to some private organisations for donation towards the surgery, the required amount of N1.8m was raised and on the 30th of December, 2008, Baby Victoria, her mother and a chaperone of the association left for India for the surgery.

One getting to the hospital which was where Baby Andrew Duku, another DS baby with a defect was taken to earlier last year for the same problem, Baby Victoria was put through all the tests in preparation for the heart surgery.

She underwent the first step towards her corrective heart surgery on Friday, 17th January which is a process called Cath Test; a procedure where the doctors insert a top through her laps up to check her heart and the dimensions of the hole before the surgery and by the 21st of January, she was taken into surgery where the operation was carried out by a team of Indian surgeons lead by Dr. Devi Prasal Shetty. The surgery lasted 5 hours and Baby Victoria had her heart restored again.

She was discharged form the Intensive care unit on the 26th of January and is waiting to be discharged which might likely happen within the week.

The President of the association, Mrs. Rose Mordi informed that the association is happy with the development is the success of the surgery will now give the association chance to move on to attend to the other babies with heart defects lined on for surgery.

“I am happy that Baby Victoria has come out of surgery and is doing very well in the ward, we are expecting them back this week and this will give us the chance to take care of the other babies lined up for surgery in our centre,” she said.

She also used the opportunity to disclose that another DS baby with heart defect, Baby Josephine Joel has joined Baby Victoria at the hospital in India and is awaiting surgery.

“I will also like to use this opportunity t inform you that Baby Josephine Joel has joined baby Victoria at the hospital in India for her corrective heart surgery, she had to leave at the hospital she was admitted in New Delhi when it seemed the hospital couldn’t handle the situation. I will like to urge everyone to pray for her success too in her surgery” she pleaded.

Early last year, the association with the help of the Nigeria Village Square family, raised more than $6000 for Baby Andrew Duku, a DS child with a hole in the heart to have a corrective heart surgery done on him.