Children’s HeartLink

“My name is Truc Ngan. I am 7. I like music. I like to play hide and seek.” This is how a thriving Ngan introduces herself today. But when Ngan was just one month old, her parents went to what they expected to be a routine wellness check. Instead, the doctor detected a heart murmur. She was transferred to Vietnam National Children’s Hospital (VNCH), a Children’s HeartLink partner hospital, where additional testing revealed a devastating diagnosis: Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), along with two related congenital heart conditions. Congenital heart disease is the leading cause of infant deaths from birth defects. Without access to high-quality care, most children in low-resource settings will die from conditions that are treatable. Ngan’s parents could do little but monitor her condition and wait for available treatment between checkups. “The doctor told us, if Ngan were born 10 years ago, she wouldn’t have been...