The One New Heart Tanzania
Success story · 2 September 2021

Daniel: from a district hospital in Mahenge to surgery in Dodoma

Daniel Maji was born healthy in Mahenge, Morogoro Region, in April 2017. At three he began to suffer repeated pneumonia, and that is how his heart problem was found.

Photograph from: Daniel: from a district hospital in Mahenge to surgery in Dodoma
Meet Daniel

Daniel was born on 26 April 2017 in Mahenge District, Morogoro Region. He was born healthy.

Life before

In November 2020, when he was about three, Daniel started to suffer from repeated pneumonia. He was taken to Mahenge District Hospital and then referred to St. Francis Referral Hospital in Ifakara, where doctors found a hole in his heart.

The turning point

At Ifakara, Daniel's father, Mr. Rayson, heard about a paediatric cardiac treatment camp at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma, planned for March 2021. He took Daniel there. The team assessed Daniel and advised the family not to go ahead with surgery at that camp, but to wait for the surgical mission planned for July 2021.

Treatment

On 12 July 2021 they arrived at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital. Daniel had his surgery the next day, 13 July 2021.

The wider mission

Daniel's route ran from a district hospital to a referral hospital to a mission camp. Strengthening those links is what our referral and patient support work is for.

Published with the family's written consent.