Moroccan Woman Reunites with Spanish Medical Team 17 Years After Life-Saving Heart Surgery

In 2005, a contact of the ADRA NGO in Morocco submitted Imane’s case to the medical team in Valencia. Her heart had four congenital abnormalities and her life expectancy was less than 10 years. As her family did not have the means to have her operated on, the association initiated the steps to have her undergo surgery in Valencia.

"In 2006, thanks to the Generalitat Valenciana, the La Fe Hospital and more particularly the pediatric cardiac surgery and cardiovascular surgery unit, Imane underwent surgery, and it was a success. They gave her a new life," said Peregrín Asensi to Levante-EMV. With the support of the Islamic Center of Valencia and ADRA Morvedre, Imane and her mother "benefited from the necessary affection" during their one and a half month stay, he added.

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Now 18 years old, the young woman recently went to Sagunto to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations of ADRA Morvedre. She took the opportunity to have a health check-up at the Valencia hospital. The assessment of Dr. Javier Chorro who examined her is reassuring: Imane’s coronary health "is very good". "We are very happy because her heart is in great shape," he rejoiced.

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Imane, who is about to enter university, is enthusiastic about enrolling in economics and later starting her own business. She renewed her words of gratitude to the team who gave her a new lease on life. "I am very happy to know you, the volunteers who saved my life and whom my mother has told me about in every photo I have seen," she said. "What strikes me is the way they treat me, even though they knew me when I was still a child. Their interest in me and their joy in seeing me generates an indescribable feeling in me," Imane added, visibly moved.