Waiting for a heart transplant: a wave of love for a little girl from Saguenay

Parents from Saguenay who will have to wait months for a heart transplant for their 9-month-old girl received no less than $45,000 in donations in 48 hours to allow them to stay at their child’s bedside in Montreal.

“We look at the number of donations, we’re confused! We don’t know the names of half of the people. It touches us so much to see all the people who are behind us,” says Joëlle Guérin with emotion.

Her daughter Ellie was born with a conduction disorder and heart defect, affecting the flow of her blood through her heart. On her second day of life, she had to undergo an operation to have a pacemaker installed (pacemaker).

“We were told that despite all this, she should have a relatively normal life thanks to the device. But the more things went, the more we realized that she was not responding well,” says the 27-year-old young woman.

The pacemaker therefore had to be changed to a more efficient one five months later… then again, last September.

A long wait

But when they went to see what they thought was a cold in recent weeks, the little girl’s parents learned that she had suffered a heart failure.

The last option to ensure Ellie has a future is a heart transplant. His case has just been accepted at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal.

“We feel lucky to have another option. If it wasn’t transplantation, it would be palliative care. All we want is for her to have a good quality of life,” sighs M^me Guérin.

However, the wait can be long, very long. Six to twelve months in the best of all possible worlds, but the child could have to wait more than a year. A long period during which her parents will not be able to work, to stay with her.

“No price”

It is in this context that the two parents launched a fundraising campaign on the GoFundMe platform, in the hope of lightening their financial burden. But they didn’t expect to receive such a big outpouring of support.

In two days, more than $45,000 was raised, and the prize pool continues to grow.

“Our eyes were in the water, we are so grateful… It’s really a shock,” breathes the young mother.

“To be able to concentrate on our daughter through this ordeal is priceless,” she adds.

M^me Guérin takes the opportunity to highlight the importance of organ donation and thank the medical teams who came to the aid of his daughter and the various foundations that support them.