A one-year-old girl with a serious heart condition left for the United States on a chartered plane on the 1th to undergo heart transplant surgery. After arriving, they will be admitted to a local university hospital and wait for a transplant.
Aoi Sato, 1, of Toshima-ku, Tokyo, was aiming for a heart transplant overseas after being found to have a hole in her heart wall shortly after birth, and after two surgeries, she suffered severe heart failure.
The cost of transplantation was soaring due to the depreciation of the yen, but as a result of fundraising activities by parents and support groups with a goal of about 2 million yen, the target amount was collected in December last year, so I decided to travel to the United States to wait for the transplant.
Early in the morning of the 5th, Aoi left the hospital in Saitama Prefecture where she was admitted and headed to Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Shortly after 3000 a.m., I departed for New York with medical staff and my family on a chartered medical plane carrying a ventricular assist device.
On the way, he will fly to New York in about 12 hours via two airports to refuel, and upon arrival, he will be admitted to Columbia University Hospital to await a transplant.
His father, Shoichiro Sato, said, "One year ago, I couldn't have imagined that I would be able to come this far, but with the support of so many people, I am able to travel to Japan, so I hope that I can do everything possible to get a transplant safely."