TMC PULSE

24 t m c » p u l s e | d e c 2 0 1 7 /ja n 2 0 1 8 T he hot pink poster, embellished with stickers, said "Welcome Ilhan." Rachael Wright, executive director of HeartGift-Houston, brought the homemade sign to George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Aug. 22 to greet a young Somali girl travel- ing to Houston for heart surgery. But Ilhan Salah Abdullahi, 7, and her mother, Maryan Abdi Biriye, 39, did not arrive on their scheduled 6:51 p.m. flight. Anxious, Wright pulled out her phone and started a long conversation with British Airways, retracing the Nairobi-London-Dallas- Houston itinerary. Four hours later, Ilhan and Maryan finally emerged from the gate. They had missed their connection in Dallas and had to wait for the next flight to Houston. And soon after take-off, Ilhan had a "tet" spell—not uncom- mon for children suffering from tetralogy of Fallot, a rare condition caused by four interrelated heart defects. A rapid drop in the amount of oxygen in Ilhan's blood caused her tiny body to go limp and her skin to turn blue. "She had no pulse for about 30 seconds," said Quineshea Roberson, a member of the American Airlines crew on that flight. "She looked dead. She was in the back row of the plane and she wasn't moving at all." Incredibly, a Somali cardiologist was on the flight and happened to be sitting near Ilhan. She checked Ilhan's traveling papers, got her some oxygen, pumped her with fluids and spoke soothingly to Maryan and Ilhan in their native language. "This mother and daughter—they have touched my heart," said Nasteho Adam, M.D., who pushed Ilhan out of the gate in a wheel- chair, with Maryan and two medics in tow. Despite the 24-hour journey and the tet spell, Ilhan greeted Wright with wide eyes and a shy smile. Ayisha Warfa, a Somalian- born teacher who would be hosting Ilhan and Maryan at her home in Spring, joined Wright, in the airport waiting area to greet her new houseguests. Within minutes, Wright had whisked the weary travelers away to collect their bags and get them settled into Warfa's home. It was nearly midnight, and they had a doctor's appointment at the Texas Medical Center the next morning. Duck, duck, goose Ilhan lives with her parents and nine siblings in a two-room mud hut in Garissa County, northeastern Kenya, near the Somalia border. Despite the Kenyan address, the family is Somali. Salah Abdullahi Ali, Ilhan's father, works nights as a security guard, and Maryan works 20 hours a week as a janitor at a local school. The family is poor. They have no elec- tricity, no running water. Their bathroom is a hole in the ground behind their dwelling. There are no paved roads, trees or vegetation in their neighborhood, although some resi- dents grow vegetables along a nearby river. A bus that comes from Nairobi, some 300 miles to the west, brings in food. Many Kenyan- Somalis in Garissa County must travel long distances to get medical care. Ilhan was diagnosed with a heart condi- tion at age one and has seen doctors intermit- tently, but it wasn't until HeartGift selected her as a patient that surgery became a reality. Established in Austin in 2000, HeartGift provides lifesaving surgery to children around the globe where specialized medical treatment is scarce or nonexistent. The organization, which has chapters in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Louisiana, has forged part- nerships around the world to help get patient referrals. HeartGift staff and volunteers coordinate travel to the U.S., housing, meals, translators, entertainment—everything a child and parent will need for their stay. Building a solid social network around the parent and child is critical to a successful sur- gery and visit. For Ilhan and Maryan's four- week stay, Wright reached out to Houston's Somali population. B y M a g g i e G a l e h o u s e A Y O U N G G I R L G E T S A C H A N C E T O G R OW O L D GIFT of a healthy HEART the Nasteho Adam, M.D., pushes Ilhan Salah Abdullahi through the concourse at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Ilhan's mother, Maryan Abdi Biriye, follows behind with two medics.

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