Reader:
I am writing to you with a great request for support and help in publicizing the fundraiser for [na rzecz] Szymon from Nowogrodziec. Little Szymon is only a month old; he was born with a severe heart defect – HLHS is a critical, complex defect that means the left ventricle did not develop in Szymek’s heart.
As Szymon’s parents Szymonek wrote:
Our child was born with only half a heart! HLHS is a critical, complex defect that means the left ventricle did not develop in Szymek’s heart! For our son to live, surgery and treatment will be necessary...
We waited for Szymek, almost certain that everything would be fine. We already had three children, all perfectly healthy. What could go wrong? Every ultrasound examination, right up to the 20th week of pregnancy, brought us immense joy. We watched our son develop, convinced that a healthy, strong little boy was growing beneath my heart.
Unfortunately, exactly when we were halfway through the pregnancy, it turned out that our son had a heart defect – HLHS. Our world collapsed. From that moment, the struggle began to keep the pregnancy going for as long as possible, as it was threatened by premature birth. Visits to specialists and hospitals seemed endless, until finally that day came...
On July 17, at 37 weeks of pregnancy, Szymon was born. On just the fourth day of his life, he underwent his first life-saving operation. He did not go to us – his loving parents – but to the operating room, where a fight for his tiny heart was underway. He made it, but this is not the end...
They added:
We are so afraid. We have only just welcomed our son into the world, yet his serious condition means that we are constantly afraid that we may have to say goodbye at any moment... Our lives are torn between the hospital and our other children, who are waiting at home for their little brother. We know that our son’s treatment will be extremely costly, which is why we are asking you for help now!