Saint Lucian mother receives free treatment for her child in St Vincent under WPP

St Vincent and the Grenadines: Saint Lucian mother Sabina Louis has received free-of-cost treatment for her child suffering from Hydrocephalus in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Louis received this surgery under the World Pediatric Project (WPP) at a child health care centre in Kingston.

During her stay in Kingston for the treatment of her child, she stated her time there was ‘well spent.' She also met Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who visited the childcare centre to greet the newborn. Prime Minister Gonsalves shared a video of him talking to Sabina over his official social media. 

Sabina revealed that she knew her baby had an abnormality even before he was born but said that the doctors were not sure of the exact cause. 

“During my ultrasound, the doctors noticed an abnormally big head and immediately admitted me to the hospital for delivery,” Sabina said. 

She added that she went into normal labour as she was already 40 weeks pregnant and gave birth to Saiyeem Valcin on 31st July 2024. Saiyeem was admitted to the hospital for a prolonged period after his birth as doctors had to keep an eye on his vitals. 

Sabin expressed that she was concerned about the cost of the procedure due to its complexity. She was scared of the bills, although she had insurance and financial aid in hand as her child was suffering and was already admitted for more than a month.

“We were looking up for funds and everything was going on, but then we hit WPP, who told us that they would take care of it,” Sabina added.

She revealed that Saint Lucia didn’t have all the facilities for the surgery to be conducted, due to which she had to come to St Vincent and the Grenadines for treatment for her child. The surgery was performed by Dr Patel and the child now is healthy and all set to live a healthy life. 

“He will have a healthy life, Thank You. It touches my heart that I know that. He will have a scar but it is not anything big,” Sabina said in a relieving tone.

This initiative has been led by the WPP, a non-profit organisation aiming to enhance child care and pediatric services across the world. WPP partners with governments and health workers and organisations globally to ensure a timely access of facilities to everyone.