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dna impact: We will take care of kids, says hospital; babies to undergo surgeries at Kokilaben

The Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital (KDAH), where the young patients are supposed to be transferred for open heart surgeries, has also stepped in. KDAH authorities confirmed that they have got enough funds to go ahead with the procedures.

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Mumbai has come forward to save the lives of four infants born with holes in their hearts, a day after this newspaper reported how their fate hangs in balance for want of funds. Since Thursday morning, the phones lines at Wadia Hospitals, where the kids are currently admitted, haven't stopped ringing.

The Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital (KDAH), where the young patients are supposed to be transferred for open heart surgeries, has also stepped in. KDAH authorities confirmed that they have got enough funds to go ahead with the procedures.

The babies, aged between 19 days and 15 months, could not be operated at Wadia as the hospital doesn't have the required facilities. It wasn't possible for the parents to take them to state-run hospitals, which are already overcrowded.

Moved by their story in dna, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's wife Sharmila visited Wadia and held discussions with the hospital administration on handling such cases in the future and promised help.

"Their story was heart-touching. I'm happy that donors have come forward to save the lives of these four babies, but so many more needy patients visit the hospital. We have to collectively work out a solution to this issue. I am told that Wadia authorities themselves are planning to set up a dedicated cardiac care programme. We will support them in every possible way."

Meanwhile, the paperworks for the surgeries at KDAH are through. Of the four babies, four-month-old Rahul Gupta will be admitted on Friday. Vidhi Pawar, 4 months, and 15-month old Sejal Jagtap will start receiving treatment from February 16.

"We have to wait for the 19-day-old baby because she is still in the neonatal care unit for infection. Now, there is no need for the parents of these four kids to run around for money. The hospital will gather donation for them," said Dr Snehal Kulkarni, paediatric cardiologist at Kokilaben.

Vinod Pawar, father of Vidhi, was overwhelmed with emotion. "We are thankful to dna for highlighting our plight. Because of them, donors have come forward to make this costly procedure a reality," said Pawar, who works for a private firm.

Wadia authorities said they plan to set up a dedicated centre within six months to carry out complicated heart surgeries on children. They said the hospital sees nearly 3,000 young heart patients every year of whom about 700 need surgical intervention.

Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, chief executive officer of Wadia Hospitals said, "There won't be any need to send kids to private hospitals once we have our own cardiac centre in place. We have already roped in some specialists for the surgeries."

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