Help pours in for baby Gabriella

Out of all things negative there must be something positive – there just has to be – and for three-year-old Gabriella Lakhan, that positivity comes in the form of humanity, the love and caring of the people of TT.

Gabriella needs a new heart and lungs – but doctors have told her mother Giselle Lakhan that surgery or transplant was not an option, because her baby would not come out of surgery alive. Lakhan was told that Gabriella "should be left the way she is, until it is her time."
Lakhan told her story to Newsday and appealed for help to pay for her daughter's medication, and the response has been overwhelming. Dozens of people have called and e-mailed Newsday expressing their desire to help fund Gabriella's medication. One man even said he was willing to get the medication for the child.

The Health Ministry has also responded, saying it will contact the family to see how best it could assist her.

Contacted, Lakhan said she has been getting calls from many people and has been keeping a list to express her thanks to them – people she never knew or met, but who were so willing to help her hold on to her a child a while longer.

Lakhan said Gabriella's illness had taken a toll on her husband, Nigel, who she said felt helpless because he could not do more for his daughter. But she said she had been supporting him so he could stand strong for their daughter.

"Gabriella loves him so much. Once he gets home it's only her daddy.
"Everything will work out. Since the story came out, a lot of people have been offering their support, not only with money, but with groceries. My church has given us some food tuff, and even if somebody gives us a pack of rice I will take it. I am not going to refuse anything, because that means there will be more for Gabriella's medicine."

Lakhan said Gabriella has been doing okay so far.

"She went to pre-school today and the kids there know about her situation, so there are no rough games with her. The teacher there is an aunt, so she monitors her.
"We try to keep her life as normal as possible.

"She is a very bright child. She knows her ABCs, her colours, and she loves Peppa Pig.
"We are taking it day by day, moment by moment."

Anyone interested in assisting Gabriella can contact her mother Giselle Lakhan at 366-7016.