Bo Yu Feeding His Duck

Little Qian

In March of this year we were contacted by a cardiologist at the children's hospital where we arrange most of our heart surgeries. The doctor was treating a patient, a 9 month old little boy who had recently had heart surgery. Little Qian's surgery was successful, but his recovery was complicated and he was very ill. His parents had spent all of their savings and had just run out of money. It was on the very day that doctors were able to extubate him and switch him over to a lower level of ventilatory support when his dad admitted that they had no more money and would be forced to discontinue all treatment.

The doctor was sad to think these parents would have to discharge the child.  He knew the little boy was already starting to improve but that his chances of survival were pretty slim if could not pay for any further treatment.  So he he called us at Little Flower and asked if there was any way we could help this family.  We were able to find a donor to cover the costs of Qian's remaining hospitalization.

Unfortunately, while Qian continued to recover from his heart surgery, he was set back when he contracted meningitis.  His hospital bill exceeded everyone's expectations, but the generous donor agreed to pay the extra costs.

 

His mom and dad stayed by his side in the hospital during this difficult time, doing their best to soothe and comfort him.  They brought his favorite toys and assisted the nurses in all aspects of his care.

Finally he was well enough to return home.  He recently contracted pneumonia and returned to receive treatment for that. (The local hospitals in his province were not able to provide the care he needed).  Again, the donor agreed to pay for his additional medical costs.  He is doing well, and we are so happy to see that sparkle in his eyes again!

We are working on a new program that will help families who are struggling to coordinate care for babies with heart defects like little Qian.  We are grateful to all who support us in this work and excited to share the details of our new program just as soon as we can!

RacingThePlanet for Little Flower

We at Little Flower are blessed to be supported by wonderful people all over the world. We'd like to introduce you to Virginie, who is preparing to run a 250 km self-sustained race in Iceland on behalf of the children of Little Flower. 

 Virginie tells us a little bit about this: 

"I am 37 year old lawyer and mum of three kids, currently living in Beijing. When I arrived in China three year ago, my family was welcomed very warmly by the Eblen family from Saint Louis (MO) in the US, Jacquie and Kevin and their 4 wonderful kids. Their hearts were open to  everybody, and they were pillars of our community, until God's hand decided otherwise almost one year ago. Kevin passed away unexpectedly, leaving a huge emptiness in our lives. In memory of Kevin and to continue his involvement with China Little Flower, I would like to dedicate my next self sustained race to this great man. I indeed signed up for a 250km self sustained race in Iceland from August 4 to August 10.  Only  a place in a tent to sleep at night and water is provided, I will thus carry 8kg on my back, mainly food and emergency gear.  Hopefully the beautiful scenery will make me insensitive to the distance and the cold. Please contribute to this challenge in memory of Kevin Eblen and in honour of all the Little Flower kids"


You can learn more about RacingThePlanet Iceland 2013 and follow Virginie's progress in her blog. 

If you would like to contribute directly to Little Flower on behalf of Virginie's run, please use the button below.

Thank you, Virginie!

Fun with bubbles