Pa seeks help as hospital bill for baby with heart defect soars

Jaden Edmund Garcia

MANILA, Philippines — Immediately after Jaden Edmund Garcia was born in March, he already had difficulty breathing.

“He was gasping for breath,” said his father, Jeff Garcia, a 31-year-old mechanical engineer from Sampaloc, Manila.

Jeff told the Inquirer that 2-month-old Baby Jaden was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, particularly the transposition of the great arteries.

Doctors explained that the large vessels carrying blood from the heart to the lungs and body were improperly linked.

“As a result, the blood that flows to the heart has no abundant supply of oxygen because it was not filtered by the lungs. Baby Jaden lacks the oxygen he needs to survive,” Jeff said.

Since undergoing an operation to correct the congenital defect at Philippine Heart Center on April 23, Baby Jaden has been in the intensive care unit because of an infection.

His hospital bill has reached around P2 million, Jeff said as he asked Inquirer readers for help.

“As much as we want to bring him home because the hospital bill keeps on increasing, we can’t. There is a risk of complications as he is susceptible to an infection,” he added.

Jeff Garcia can be reached at 0995-1467356. Donations can be deposited in his BPI account number 8749196816.