Joseph – Age 1.5 – Uganda

Joseph is from the little town of Katende in the Mpigi district of Uganda. He was born with a protruding chest bone, and at 9-months-old, his mother decided to bring him to the doctor where he was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a serious congenital heart defect comprised of four defects that affect the structure of the heart. His mother connected with HeartGift and she and Joseph flew to Louisiana for his life-saving surgery. Thanks to the medical team at Children’s Hospital New Orleans as well as pediatric cardiologist Dr. Thomas Kimball and pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Timothy Pettitt, Joseph’s preoperative studies and open-heart surgery was uneventful and went extremely smoothly. When he woke up, his mom was by his side smiling ear to ear! Joseph now has a very bright future ahead of him.