4-month-old heart patient clinging to life - Has one per cent chance of survival without surgery

Four-month-old Zenaya has a one per cent chance of surviving if she does not receive a heart correction surgery soon. This operation, however, comes at a hefty cost of US$172,000 (approximately J$27 million), which is too steep for her parents to reach. Jackson Memorial Children's Hospital in Florida has offered to do the procedure. The US$172,000 includes the facility rate for 21 days in-patient, plus US$5000 per day over the 21 days.

A GoFundMe account has so far raised US$3700 of the US$300,000 goal, but with time being of the essence, Zenaya's mother Shanoy Williams said she is reaching out to the public for assistance.

"Sometimes she will get blue, so she has to be on medication constantly. She is my only child, and of course as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I began making plans for her. I want to see her go to university and get married and live her best life. To see her in this predicament really hurts me to my core and it gets to me sometimes, and I just wish that God would just do this for me. I am asking the public to please assist in any way possible," she said.

Zenaya was diagnosed with dextro transposition of the great arteries. This is a birth defect in which the two main arteries carrying blood out of the heart - the main pulmonary artery and the aorta - are switched in position, or 'transposed'. Most infants who undergo arterial switch do not have symptoms after surgery and live normal lives. If corrective surgery is not performed, the life expectancy is only months.

Williams, who hails from Montego Bay, St James, said she had a normal pregnancy initially, but during the last trimester, her blood pressure elevated significantly. She had an emergency C-section on August 14 at the Cornwall Regional hospital, almost three weeks shy of her original due date.

"After she was born, the doctor told me that the baby had a heart condition and so on," she said, noting that her daughter also has a cleft palate, which can cause other issues including difficulty feeding and dental problems. But the heart condition is the main issue.

"That type of surgery I was told is not done locally and without this operation the doctors says my baby has a one per cent chance of survival if it's not done," she said.

Persons wishing to assist baby Zenaya may contact her mother Shanoy Williams at 876 395 9789 or contribute to the GoFundMe account at https://gofund.me/308bfee8