The team was led by Israeli heart surgeon Dr. Hagi Dekel. One of the patients was nine-year-old Richard Mbimbi, who traveled more than 600 miles after an untreated throat infection severely damaged two of his heart valves.
But the most important part of the mission is what happens after the Israeli doctors leave. Dekel trained Dr. Mudaniso Ziwa for six years in Israel before Ziwa returned home in 2024 as Zambia’s first pediatric heart surgeon. He is now training Dr. Zakias Muulu, who is expected to return next year as the country’s second.
The program also supplied Zambia with a new $200,000 heart-lung machine. It is only the second such machine in the country of 22.5 million people and could double the number of children receiving heart surgery there.
Save a Child’s Heart has already helped approximately 200 Zambian children. Worldwide, the Israeli organization has treated almost 8,500 children from 75 countries and trained more than 160 doctors and nurses.