Gabriella continues to receive love

THREE-YEAR-OLD Gabriella Lakhan is a trooper and despite her health challenges continues to enjoy going to school, playing with her friends, surrounded by her family's love.

The wall in the child's heart never fully developed which caused her blood to mix with carbon dioxide. This in turn affected her lungs. She needs a new heart and lungs but doctors have said, besides the long waiting list for organs, Gabriella may not survive the surgery.

Adding insult to injury, the $1,100 social welfare cheque she received every month for medication was stopped. The family was deemed ineligible because Gabriella's father earned a salary of $5,000 a month.

Her mother Giselle Lakhan reached out to the public for help to pay for her child's medication, the only hope that was keeping Gabriella alive.

After reading about the mother's plight, the help began to pour in from good Samaritans around TT, and even as far as the United States.

When contacted on Thursday, Lakhan said she returned to the social welfare office as was advised and received new documents for the doctors to verify and update Gabriella's condition.

"The doctors have already signed everything and I took it to social welfare, it is just for them to process everything. We already did the echocardiogram and we have to go back to Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, on May 20 to see if she is making any progress.

"People are still calling and offering to help us, not only with her medicine but with things like diapers, juice, water, snacks...one person in particular, Matthew, he has been really helping us out. A few people from the US sent some money for her, too."

Anyone wishing to offer assistance can contact Giselle Lakhan at 366-7016.