NEW ORLEANS —
Today is Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement to help the organizations that work to make our communities better. Its launch coincides with the tremendous needs caused by the world pandemic.
Two were families brought together and forever changed by one of those non-profit groups. And then the coronavirus changed things even more.
For years volunteers with HeartGift have been saving the lives of very sick children. They bring impoverished children in from around the world who have heart defects. Doctors at Children’s Hospital make them whole. It's something unheard of in their countries. Six-year-old Yana from the Philippines was born with four heart defects. She is another HeartGift success story, but the coronavirus changed everyone’s plans.
"And when I saw her picture I was like, 'Oh my God, like this little child,'" said Yehleen Gaffney who is part of a host family for HeartGift.
John and Yehleen Gaffney volunteered as a host family for Yana and her mom Maria Ruby.
Yehleen is from the same island, so they speak the same language. So the Gaffneys took them into their Covington home in early February.
Stephanie Berault with HeartGift says first they had to be quarantined after flying through South Korea to get to New Orleans.
"She was weak. She was frail. She was frequently blue. Her fingernails, her lips would be blue. She knew that she looked different than other children and she knew that she couldn’t do things that other children could do, said Stephanie Berault, the Executive Director of HeartGift Louisiana.
Over the next several weeks surgeons fixed her heart. Yana and her mom headed home. They made it as far as Los Angeles, where they got stuck for 24 hours.
"We got the call in the middle of the night they were not letting her board the plane because Hong Kong had shut all through traffic," remembers Berault.
The Gaffneys, again, opened up their arms, hearts, and home and said 'Come on back.'
"So it was quite harrowing at the time, but we’re very happy they were able to make it back safely," said John Gaffney, part of the host family.
Yana’s young mother gestures how she carried Yana in her arms, walking to her school. Each trip took 30 minutes. Yana was too weak to make it on her own. Now she smiles, as any mother would, that her precious daughter will live a normal life. Yahleen is a photographer and has already had a tremendous influence. Yana has picked up how to use her fingers to see what the camera lens sees. She is now learning English and is a ball of energy.
When it's time for them to leave, the Gaffney will miss them.
"Yeah, I mean, yeah, like when they left the first time they tried to go back home, we were very sad, and then when they said they didn’t make it, I was like, 'Yea! They’re back,'" said Yahleen.
And now, they're considered family.
If you’d like to donate to HeartGift or become a host family, click here.
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