Healing Little Hearts

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

A catch-up Mr Jack Roberts Paediatric Cardiac Physiologist, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool and a Volunteer in the HLH Kenya Mission.

The College community was heartened, delighted, and privileged to learn of the wonderful work that Alumni Jack Roberts has been taking part in for several years. The project is called “Healing Little Hearts” Every year over 1,000,000 children are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) worldwide and sadly only 10% of these children receive the lifesaving treatment they desperately need.

Healing Little Hearts is a children’s charity that began in 2007 aiming to tackle and overcome the disparities in healthcare for congenital heart disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The primary aim of the charity is to ensure all children are given the opportunity to the life they deserve by providing free lifesaving cardiac surgery to children and babies in these countries.

The Work in Kenya

Healing Little Hearts has been visiting Kenya since 2016. The 2022 trip was Healing Little Hearts 31st mission in Africa, 10th mission in Kenya and 9th at M.P.Shah Hospital, Nairobi. The visiting team comprises of professionals from multiple disciplines including cardiac surgeons, cardiac interventionalists, cardiologists, anaesthetists, intensivists, perfusionists, nurses, physiologists and other volunteers. The team members travel from multiple countries including UK, Italy, Spain, USA and India and stay for around 7-11 days using their annual leave. During the camps the team operates on as many children as possible, performing both open-heart surgery and interventional cardiac catheterisation. This ensures as many children are given the opportunity to life they deserve and to break down the barriers of access to healthcare for families living below the poverty line.

A final word: It has been a real pleasure catching up with Jack and I think Jack’s parting words to Mr Hicks really sum up his work “with a smile on our faces and being slightly emotional we appreciate how beautiful life is”.

Jack, we send you and your team our heartfelt prayers of support as you all prepare for your mission once again later this year.