Baby Boy From Grenada Comes To Jax For Life-Saving Surgery

by News4Jax.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 3-month-old boy and his family recently flew from Grenada to Jacksonville's Wolfson Children's Hospital for a critical surgery to correct the boy's severe heart defect.

"I come to do a heart surgery for my son. As far I know, the doctors say everything is going fine," said Andrew Harris' mother, Antoinette Harris.

She sat anxiously, waiting for her son to get out of open-heart surgery. Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. Robert Dabal and a team of doctors and nurses were the miracle workers responsible for saving Andrew's life.

"We're going to close the hole that he has in his heart, and that's going to be a rather straight-forward part of the operation," Dabal said.

Andrew's blue appearance caused by a lack of oxygen immediately tipped off his mother about her son's condition.

"I know he had a problem," Harris said.

"He's not getting enough oxygen, so eventually it would damage his brain and all of his vital organs would be damaged by the lack of oxygen," Dabal explained.

The family's trip to the U.S. was made possible by a nonprofit organization called Patrons of the Hearts.

The mission to save the boy's life was a success.

"We were so glad that Grenada had the foundation and that America had this program for us," Harris said.

It is expected to take about a week or so for Andrew to recover at the hospital. After that, the boy will stay at the Ronald McDonald House.

Doctors said they expect Andrew to live a full, normal and active life.