A boy is screened for congenial heart disease (CHD) at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
Steadier heartbeats
In Haroon Khil village in southeastern Afghanistan's Khost province, Bilal Shafiq had been dreaming about playing soccer together with his friends. But he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect back in 2016 when he was six.
Bilal's father was told that an operation would cost about 9,000 U.S. dollars -- a hefty sum for a family like his.
The helpless family was given a glimmer of hope when a Chinese medical team arrived in Kabul in August 2017 to look for Afghan child patients with congenital heart diseases for future free treatment in China.
The service was part of a humanitarian aid program by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) named "Angels Tour – Belt and Road Humanitarian Rescue Afghanistan Action for Children with Severe Diseases."
The program targeted Afghan children aged 0-14 who suffer from congenital heart diseases, and planned to provide 100 sick children with free surgeries in China, said Liu Jingjing, director of the program.
Bilal Shafiq, an Afghan child with congenital heart disease, waits to leave for China to receive treatment, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua/CRCF]
Bilal was lucky enough to be included and underwent a very successful surgery in September 2017 in Urumqi, the regional capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
"He likes smiling and smiles to everyone he meets. He also likes to interact with others, so everyone likes him," Liu said of Bilal, a boy of big hazel eyes and double-fold eyelids.
The CRCF completed the first phase of the aid program by the end of 2018. All the 100 children had successful operations in China and are making recoveries. The second phase is now underway to treat more ailing Afghan children.
Liu said Bilal came to see them when the medical team paid a second visit to Kabul. "Our doctors re-examined him and found that he was in good health," Liu said.
"I wish to study in China when I grow up, and I want to be a doctor in the future," Bilal beamed.
