On 17th of December 2020 at 9:57am, my eight-month ordeal of acute morning sickness, discomfort, stress and fear came to an end when my 10lb 5oz beautiful baby boy came into the world. His father and I named him Deshaun (meaning he who is God-like). We gave him a strong name. Little did we know that his strength and our faith was quickly going to be tested.

We were in awe at the beautiful gift which the Divine bestowed upon us. Our perfectly healthy baby boy with his 10 fingers and 10 toes. I recall he cried out so loudly in the operating theatre of my emergency caesarian section. Even though he was one month early, my mom, my partner and I were ecstatic and anxiously waited for the moment that we could hold our bundle of joy.
Mere hours after they carried out their routine examination of Deshaun, they came to us with a pensive, worried look on their faces. It was then we were informed that Deshaun may have a heart condition. Our joy quickly turned to fear and anguish. How? Why? What are we going to do? Where can we get it done? What are his chances of survival? These questions and untold fear quickly filled my mind, engulfed my thoughts and numbed my being. I cried…..My soul cried out for strength, for my bundle of joy, for my partner, and my mother. Everyone stood stunned. The doctors tried to console us. They assured us that all is not lost and they would give more details after they completed the necessary tests. An echocardiogram was scheduled for the following day.
On December 18th, we were informed that my sunshine had tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary artesia. Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with pulmonary atresia is a more severe form of TOF, a type of heart defect. It’s a congenital condition, which he was born with. TOF with pulmonary atresia is usually diagnosed shortly after birth. The most common symptom is a bluish tint to the skin, lips and nail beds, called cyanosis.
Babies born with TOF with pulmonary atresia need surgery to correct the problem, usually before 6 months of age. The surgery brings all the pulmonary arteries together (unifocalization), so a connection can be created between the arteries and the right ventricle. This condition causes the child to go through multiple operations, over a period of months and years.
They told us we had to be in it for the long hall. That the journey would be long and hard. Even though this is not how we would have liked it to be, we trust God and believe that prayer begets everything. We decree and declare that our baby shall be healed. He has to have an operation that cannot be done in Trinidad and Tobago. We will have to seek medical assistance internationally and therefore will be seeking the intervention of all who can help to offset financial cost. We ask for your donations whatever they maybe to heal our son and giving a chance at life.