Children in Distress - “Bright eyes where are you going”

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“Bright eyes where are you going”

Maria's at Rafi's recent birthday party

Staff Nurse Camelia shares a little of one of the children in her care

My name is Camelia, and I am the senior nurse at St Margaret’s Children’s Centre in Bucharest. Last autumn a beautiful three-month-old baby, Maria Iancu, was brought to the hospice, she weighed barely 5.6 pounds and had been born with a posterior parietal encephalocele (A congenital malformations with herniation of intracranial structures through a defect in the cranium). She was beautiful with stunningly bright eyes, which followed us intently, so we were all touched and felt a connection. One of my colleagues even decided to baptize her and now she has an even stronger spiritual bond with Maria as her godmother.

As the weeks passed Maria had test upon test at Victor Gomoiu Hospital, and it was decided to contact a well-known neurological surgeon at the Marie Curie Hospital for Children, who knew of Maria’s case and might approve corrective surgery. Maria’s three-hour operation took place on Tuesday 22^nd November 2012. One month later, the first post-operative review and routine check-up showed Maria was recovering well from the surgery and her surgeon is hopeful about her long-term recovery and progress.

Today having come through all that, Maria is a lovely child, she already eats from a spoon, and she prattles; she can even sit, and has started to take her first steps using a go-cart for toddlers as support. She knows how to stand up in her bed using the bars and her own strength and she still dazzles us with those bright eyes and joyous smiles. Over a relatively short period, Maria has progressed well and she has achieved the proper development milestones for a child of her age.

Fortunately, Maria usually receives visits from her father, but her mother has never seen her since she abandoned Maria shortly after birth by just walking out of the maternity hospital.

My colleagues and I are really happy to have Maria at St Margaret’s where she is loved and cared for, just as any child deserves. She is cherished and she can grow up in our loving and caring “family” because she was offered that all-important second chance here, we didn’t just give upon her as the hospital had.

St Margaret’s Hospice in its infant and junior wards cares for sixteen infants and children just like Maria all of whom live because of the loving care and dedication of nurses like Camelia. Please help them by making a donation today using this site’s home page online donation link to Just Giving. Your gift, large or small, l will change a life and may even save a life so every penny counts