How Facebooking saved a child

The swift and wide reach of social media has saved the life of a child who was suffering from a congenital heart defect two years ago.

Hannah Amora, the grateful mother of the now two-year-old Maven Ross, would like to pay back society’s kindness by launching a Facebook page to raise funds for other children with similar condition.

The “Maven’s Heart Fund,” created in April 2012, had raised P1.2 million for the open heart surgery of then nine-month-old Maven at St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City.

Hannah and Maven were guests at the summit on social media at the University of San Jose-Recoletos. Dubbed as “Social Good Summit,” the gathering focused on the importance of the media in changing the world.

“I know the surgery was expensive, but we were doing our best for Maven,” said Hannah, who did not expect to submit government requirements for the monetary aid which included a photo of their house and a certificate of indigency from the social welfare office.

“Our house was not even dilapidated and I was thinking if we could qualify for the assistance,” she said.

She decided to do another thing to solve their problem by asking help from family, friends and even strangers through Facebook. Eventually, the advocacy on her page was shared by the “One Share, One Life” organization. Since then, a lot of people responded to help.

After the successful operation, Hannah continues to post updates of Maven’s progress, including his medical check-ups. “He is now okay but sometimes he is panting,” Hannah added.

Participants at yesterday’s summit were able to interact with Hannah and Maven. “If you are facing a very big problem, just have faith in God and He knows that you are capable of addressing the problem,” she said.

Today, the Facebook page “Maven Heart’s Fund” has over a thousand followers. After his successful surgery, an inspired Hannah made the “Let it Echo” Facebook page to support and raise funds to help children with congenital heart defects. More than 10 children have benefitted from the account.

“The social media has also been a great help as we address not just the needs of my son but also the needs of other children,” she added.

Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV also attended summit where he spoke about “Connecting the Connected Generation” in the summit.

“Even if we are a connected generation, we still need to connect to the community,” he said, emphasizing the role of the youth in shaping the country by getting actively involved.

“Social media has given the youth opportunity to be part of change, so he encourages young people to share useful information instead of just personal matters,” the senator said.

“Youth are the nationbuilders, use the tools of social media to build our country together,” Aquino said.