Back in Play
Before she received treatment, even a few minutes of outdoor games with her friends would make Fatmata Fofanah’s heart race.
With treatment for her congenital heart disease, Fatmata Fofanah can once again indulge her passion for sports. Photo: © Michael Duff / World Health Organization
For several years, the local health center had dismissed Fatmata Fofanah’s symptoms as the common cold. Yet those symptoms continued to worsen. “We noticed her heart was beating fast and she was short of breath,” said her mother, Mariama. “Even a few minutes of play would make her heart race.”
In early 2023, Mariama took her daughter to the Koidu Government Hospital in eastern Sierra Leone. There clinicians suspected a heart condition, but they lacked proper diagnostic equipment. A kind benefactor at the hospital paid for Fatmata to travel five hours to Freetown, where an echocardiogram confirmed a diagnosis of congenital heart disease.
“I can’t explain in words how I felt when we got the diagnosis,” Mariama said. “We were all in shock. How could such a small child have this kind of heart problem? The entire family felt so bad and just cried so much.”
Fortunately, Fatmata can now access treatment close to home, at the properly equipped PEN-Plus clinic in Koidu that the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the NCDI Poverty Network opened in 2023 and Partners In Health now runs. The six-year-old visits the clinic each month for free checkups, medication adjustments, and echocardiograms. With the clinic’s support, her symptoms have abated enough for her to be able to rejoin her friends in play.
With surgical intervention currently unavailable in Sierra Leone, the PEN-Plus clinic focuses on managing Fatmata’s symptoms to enhance her quality of life.
“Our hope,” Mariama said, “is that one day she will access the surgical treatment needed to cure this disease.”
Six-year-old Fatmata Fofanah experienced symptoms of congenital heart disease years before receiving a diagnosis. With the launch of a Partners In Health-run PEN-Plus clinic in 2023, she now receives ongoing treatment close to home. (Photo: © Michael Duff / World Health Organization)