Don't let this baby die!

A 26-year old father is giving up willing to give up piece of his liver to save his baby’s life. But Joshua Bhagwandeen, a pump operator at Petrotrin, doesn’t have the money for the vital operation needed for the live-saving procedure for the infant. So he is appealing for help.

Bhagwandeen is a pump operator at Petrotrin. His wife, Thalia, has had to quit her job to care for baby Hannah, who was born four months ago with a rare liver ailment that doctors didn’t diagnose immediately.

"But after six weeks we realized that something was wrong and we took the baby to a paediatrician. She was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease. We had to do several tests and a senior doctor told us that the correction procedure could not be done in Trinidad," Bhagwandeen told the Trinidad Express.

He said a search for help ended at Hopkins Hospital in the United States where doctors performed what is called a "Kasai" procedure to correct the problem. But he they told the parents Hannah would have to get a liver transplant before she is one year.

"Doctors said this disease happens in one in every 15,000 babies and Hannah was the first baby in the Caribbean to be diagnosed with this. They also told us that she was the oldest baby to have the procedure done," Bhagwandeen told the paper, adding that there is a great urgency to get the surgery done.

The Kasai procedure involves the creation of an open duct to drain bile from the liver. The surgeon removes the damaged ducts outside of the liver and replaces them with a piece of the baby's own intestine.

Read about the Kasai procedure

Hannah's mom is still at her baby’s bedside in Maryland, USA, while dad is back home trying to raise necessary funds for the transplant. Thalia and her baby are expected home next week.

The family borrowed the $530,000 (US$80,000) to pay for the first procedure but it doesn’t have the means for funding the transplant. The hospital requires $1.9-million (US$300,000) within the next two months.

You can help by donating your lunch money or whatever you can afford to the “Baby Hannah Liver Fund” at Republic Bank. The account number is 470 471 211 701.

Or you can contact Joshua Bhagwandeen (717-1897) or Vashti Harrilal (71-9253) for further information. Don’t let this baby die!