“He looked normal to me, but the doctors told me (you) will not be able to see it, but due to their profession, they can see it. But in my eyes, I was just seeing a perfect little boy, but unfortunately..” Sabina Louis.
A Saint Lucian mother, Sabina Louis, has shared her heartwarming story of determination and resilience in saving the life of her one-month-old son, Saiyeem Valcin.
She told her story in a video posted on the Facebook page of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
Sabina’s journey began when she sought medical assistance for her unborn baby, ultimately leading her to Saint. Vincent to secure life-saving treatment.
On July 28th, Sabina recalled going for a checkup at the Owen King European Union Hospital (OKEUH) due to concern about the lack of movement from baby Saiyeem in her womb.
She disclosed that doctors discovered that Saiyeem’s head was larger than normal.
Just three days later, on July 31st, she gave birth to Saiyeem, who appeared extremely pale. The doctors soon diagnosed him with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition caused by excess fluid in the brain.
Sabina shared her emotional struggle after hearing the diagnosis. “At that point I was very worried, what’s going to happen? How is he going to grow up? What his life will be like?” She recounted.
Doctors told her the condition posed significant risks, including potential seizures and other complications, leaving Sabina anxious for her son’s future.
However, the situation became even more dire when Sabina said she learned that Saint Lucia did not have the specialists or equipment to perform the surgery Saiyeem needed.
Determined to save her baby’s life, Sabina sought assistance in Saint Vincent, where she related, to her surprise, the medical procedure was possible at no cost.
“We were already trying to raise funds, but when we heard that WPP (World Pediatric Project) would take care of it, we were very thankful and relieved,” Sabina said.
After the successful surgery in Saint Vincent, Saiyeem now has tubes running from his head to his stomach, a necessary step to drain the excess fluid.
Despite the physical scars, Sabina is filled with hope and gratitude.
“It touches my heart to know that he will have a scar, but it will be a testimony for him to remember that there are good people and nations out there.”
With baby Saiyeem’s health restored, Sabina is overjoyed to be returning home to Saint Lucia and thankful for the generosity and care her son received.
That is such a positive article. Thank god for the people and surgeons in St Vincent.
St Lucia is so behind in any medical field…….why is that?
Good job St Vincent 👏👍
And to think, just this week while conversing with a friend, we both summised that St Lucia seems to be on a downward spiral, and that St Vincent and Grenada are by-passing us with all kinds of upgrades in their developments.
Kudos to Sabina for thinking “outside the box” and doing her research for her baby son’s health and wellbeing, AND getting the assistance he deserved. Couldn’t the doctors at OKEU given her that information? Are they aware that the World Pediatric Project exists? Just shows that they do not SEEM to be savvy on what is available to us from the other islands.
Good luck to Sabina and her son – the best of health to Saiyeem.
But we want a world class cruise port, we want the biggest best hotels, we want top class halls of justice, we want massive fete and costly celebrations for every holiday BUT our Healthcare system, (not just buildings) is absolute crap. Cancer, diabetes, dialysis treatment is just non existent or not near any standard. Shame on our Healthcare decision makers and leaders that our citizens have to fly to other territories for treatment.
Peep shame on Lucia. Thank God fit Saint Vincent
Step up ull medical facilities at Lucia s***
Dr. Gonzales and Beam pm are real leaders other leader in the Caribbean should emulate. Why do you think that the Vincy doc. don’t sell Vincy passports to make a buc. This story brings relief not just to the mom, but to all the well wishers. I hope that the baby grows to become strong and healthy.
Big up Ralph and people of st Vincent, only borbol going on here with our medical ministry fire burn
To God be the Glory!
Blessings. To God be the glory! May this baby be devoted to God, and may he be taught to always be grateful; to love his parent (mother), and all those who will stand in the gap for him as he grows to be a healthy and intelligent young man. God speed!
Wow …St. Vincent much smaller island doing great things for a St. Lucian citizen…God bless their contribution and selflessness.🙏🏾
The government of St. Lucia pays US$100,000 on a yearly basis to that organization to accommodate St Lucians.
To the doctors who performed the life changing surgery be the glory. They put in the hard work to study at university to help humanity. Their knowledge and expertise were gained through a long history of scientific progress gained through scientific research and excellence. Had the mom stayed in Saint Lucia, her baby would not have gotten the medical and surgical intervention the baby deserved. Would god have intervened if the mother stayed in Saint Lucia and not seek intervention in Saint Vincent? The answer is categorically NO!!!… So I give all the praise and glory to the intervention of the men and women who did an amazing job. god don’t deserve nada, If he is worth his salt, he could have atleast saved the infant and his mother this headache and made him born healthy like most infants. The mental gymnastics some people have to do to believe this sky god is incredible. So the question is , god allowed this infant to have such a terrible and life threatening surgical condition, just so he ( god ) can show how merciful he is? When he ( god ) could have spared the infant this condition from the womb…but I know what these Christians zealots will say, we are all sinners from birth due to Adam’s disobedience to god…but hang on, how is this innocent baby responsible for a man’s (Adam) sin committed 6000 odd years ago when the baby was not even there to have any say in this ridiculous mind bending gymnastics called original sin. I wonder what happened to babies born with hydrocephaly during the times of Abraham, or Moses or jacob. Presumably this condition was there as long as we humans were born with a brain… certainly a few babies would have been born with this condition during the stone age, bronze age and iron age…the ages when men were ignorant and backward and interestingly enough the ages which gave us the stories of this god walking and talking with men in a desert….well if god walked and talked with these men, why did god not teach them the scientific method of how to cure diseases, how comes god did not teach them the germ theory, or how to make antibiotics to cure infections ? ….the mental gymnastics flexers will say they did not need to cause god walked with them…the I will retort that we have achieved more scientifically in our modern age than all these desert walkers who walked with god… isn’t it ironic god ain’t walking and talking with us today like he did with desert dwellers a few thousand years ago? WHY ? I leave you to use and exercise your mental gymnastics to figure that one out…
They busy donating to all nonsense and st.lucia dont have specialists and equipment! All the monies we have here! St.lucia should be ashamed because small country like st.vincent has a specialist we dont smh
For so sue me, the doctors were the ones who referred the patient to WPP, so it SEEMS you are the one who is not savvy with what the doctors here are capable of doing and have done. Please do your research before making uninformed comments such as that. God bless.
People stop saying small country like St. Vincent. Julien just proved that to us two months ago on the global stage. That a small island can produce world class.
Wow! SLT why didnt you post my comment? Just wow!
Very grateful for the successful and much needed surgical intervention offered by the WPP doctors working at the medical facility in St Vincent.
@So Sue Me: before you make comments its wise to do your research. The team of doctors were the ones who referred the baby to WPP upon early detection of the condition.
By the way, World Pediatric Project (WPP) now rebranded as World Pediatrics, is a non-profit organization with their HQ in Richmond Virginia, who provide life saving surgical care to hundreds of children world wide every year FREE OF CHARGE. These cases are received via referrals sent to the WPP who respond by either accepting or not, on a case to case basis.
If a case is accepted, the decision is made on whether a.) a doctor from the US comes down to the island to perform the procedure, usually providing small equipment if necessary; b.) the patient may be asked to be airlifted to the US for the procedure, or c.) the patient may be asked to be flown to their regional facility in St Vincent where doctors who are posted there perform the surgical procedure. The latter option being the case of Saiyeem.
“Just shows that some people arent SAVVY on what really happens on their island”.