Watch CBS News

Colorado Doctors' Generosity Saves Honduran Infant's Life

DENVER (CBS4) - A mother's intuition and the charity of doctors in Colorado have saved the life of a newborn girl from Honduras.

When Karen Soler Mejia noticed her daughter, Camila, breathing too quickly, she knew something was wrong. But Honduran doctors said her daughter was healthy. She disagreed, and it took the aid of American doctors on a charitable mission to intervene.

Camila was born with the major arteries of her heart reversed.

"This defect would have eventually taken her life," Dr. Steven Leonard, a pediatric heart surgeon, said. He belongs to the Friends of Barnabas charity, through which he and other doctors volunteer their time and skills for medical missions in Honduras.

The doctors flew Mejia and her daughter to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver a week ago to perform the critical surgery.

"I love this operation because it takes a very abnormal heart and we restore it to nearly normal anatomy," Leonard said.

Camila is recovering and could return to Honduras within a week. Her prognosis is excellent, Leonard said.

"Before her color was very yellow," Mejia told CBS4. "Now her color is a lot different, a lot better, and she's eating a lot better as well."

 

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.