Brave Little Hearts S.A.

13/09/2026

CHD requires lifelong care.
Surgery and medication give a better quality of life.
and so are we

CHD doesn’t end when childhood does. ❤️💙

That’s something I wish more people understood.

Our heart warriors grow up.

They become teenagers learning more about their own diagnosis, medications, limits, and bodies.

They become adults making decisions about work, school, relationships, pregnancy, insurance, specialists, and lifelong heart care.

And for many, there may still be:
appointments,
testing,
medications,
procedures,
monitoring,
and questions about what comes next.

The journey changes but it doesn’t simply disappear.

That’s why lifelong CHD care matters.
That’s why transition from pediatric to adult congenital cardiology matters.
And that’s why awareness has to include adults living with CHD too.

Our kids are more than their diagnosis, but their hearts may still need care for a lifetime. ❤️‍🩹

CHD is more than childhood. It’s a lifelong journey.

12/09/2026

Meet brave little heart Liyolitha, born on 21 December.
Liyolitha showed the signs of CHD: not feeding well, sweating profusely, heavy breathing especially when feeding, poor weight gain. for 2 months Liyolitha went undiagnosed despite visits to to her local clinic, Eventually, after the clinic and local hospital could not find the cause of her heavy breathing she was transferred to Red Cross Children's Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD).
Little Liyolitha had her open heart surgery on 08 January and is doing really well.
Many mothers see they signs....... they just don't know what they are looking at. Many health care professionals misdiagnose because they too do not know the signs and symptoms of CHD.
Know the signs of CHD... Knowledge is power and can save a life like brave little heart Liyolitha.

Early detection saves lives.
And So Are We.

08/09/2026

Happy birthday Meeran

08/09/2026

Meet brave little heart, Meeran, who spent his first birthday in hospital just a few days after his open-heart surgery.

This is Meeran's story, written by his amazing mother Sadeeqah Roberts

From bed to balloons.
"They say raising boys is wild. But they don't tell you what it takes to keep one alive."

This video starts where no mother wants to stand: a nurse wheeling a tiny cot away down a long hospital hallway. That walk I will never forget. The walk where I had to hand my not-yet-one-year-old son over for a 6-7 hour open-heart surgery. I watched his little bed get smaller and smaller, and I made a duah with every step he took away from me. Then the tubes. Meeran, my Meeran, who has been fighting since day one with his heart condition. The same baby who had fever spikes and went into heart failure because of pneumonia and then double pneumonia that attacked his tiny lungs. There he is, so small, with a tube helping him breathe, wires on his chest, drains from his little body, chest bandaged where they opened him to heal him.

31/08/2026 - A date that will be written in his story forever. The day his heart was repaired. His tiny fingers with pink nails wrapped in bandages, holding onto my finger. In that moment, he doesn't need a machine to tell him he's safe. He has our Creator and me. His mama's hand is his whole world. The tears still on his long eyelashes, the little nose cannula helping him, the lips so dry. He cried, he fought, he was tired. But he was here. He made it through. And then, with Allah's mercy. Same boy. Same hospital crib. But different. A little boy sitting up, making a pouty face, alive, annoyed, beautiful. Looking at balloons on what should be his 1st birthday week. This is 12 months of Meeran. From a heart that struggled to beat, to a heart that was stopped and started again by Allah's permission. From heart failure to now, a journey to healing. From tubes to balloons.
Meeran didn't just survive open-heart surgery.
He taught us all what a strong heart really looks like.

01/09/2026

❤️💙 The language heart families learn…

Before CHD, so many of these words meant absolutely nothing to us.

Echo. Saturations. Gradient. Shunt. Cath. Anticoagulation. Pacemaker. Milrinone.

Then one day, they become part of your everyday vocabulary.

You learn what numbers are “normal” for YOUR child.

You learn medication names, doses, side effects, and schedules.

You learn how to describe symptoms to a cardiologist.

You learn enough about valves, pressures, rhythms, and blood flow to follow conversations you once would have never understood.

And sometimes you hear yourself talking to another heart parent and realize…

We really do have our own language. ❤️

But behind every medical word is something much bigger.

There’s a child.

There’s a family who had to learn.

There are appointments, hospital stays, late-night questions, celebrations, setbacks, and so much love.

None of us entered parenthood expecting to know this language.

We learned it because we had to.

We learned it so we could ask questions, understand the plan, and advocate for our children.

And somehow, words that once sounded terrifying eventually became part of our normal conversations. ❤️💙

Heart parents, what’s ONE medical word you never imagined you’d know so much about? 👇

01/09/2026

25/08/2026

I had the privilege of meeting Belen Blanton in Washington, DC, at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery 2023. Belen was a strong advocate for CHD in Venezuela. Belen so kindly allowed BLHSA to share her CHD colouring-in books in Cape Town, South Africa, which put smiles on many CHD patients' faces during the toughest time in their lives. Her legacy will continue here in Cape Town through these colouring-in books.

Remembering Belen Altuve Blanton
July 22 1965 - August 24, 2026

Some of you may already have heard the heartbreaking news that our beloved Belen Blanton has died following a stroke, after several days in the ICU with complications related to her heart and kidneys.

Belen was loved by everyone who knew her. She was positive, vibrant, beautiful, generous, and endlessly selfless. She never took for granted the gift of life she had been given—and from an early age, she made it her mission to give back to the congenital heart disease (CHD) community.

Born with tricuspid atresia in Venezuela in 1961, Belen was born at a time and in a place where lifesaving heart surgery was not available. Thankfully, her family was able to travel to the United States, where she received the surgery and lifelong medical care that gave her the opportunity to live.

And live she did. Belen built a happy, productive, deeply loved life—far beyond what anyone might have expected given the challenges she faced.

For more than six decades, she devoted herself to helping others. Through her nonprofit, Fundacion Estrellita de Belén Corp, she worked tirelessly to provide cardiac care to children from low-income families in Venezuela. She was also a cherished member of the Global ARCH family, serving as a board member and ambassador and lending her voice to countless awareness and advocacy initiatives—including speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in 2023.

Belen endured countless heart surgeries, hospitalizations, and difficult days with extraordinary grace, courage, and humour. Yet somehow, she always brought joy into the room. Her cheerful, sing-song voice, infectious positivity, fabulous outfits, and ever-changing nail polish will forever be part of how we remember her—even during the moments when it was clear how hard she was struggling to breathe.

Belen showed us what it means to turn a life saved into a life dedicated to saving and improving the lives of others.

Belen, we love you. You will always be a shining star in our Global ARCH family, and your light will continue to inspire the CHD community around the world. ⭐️❤️

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly: https://youtu.be/5o7r0Mj7tq0?si=RvotkO2S6PrnBMlL

Belen AltuveBlanton

11/08/2026

"What is the cost of a life?"

Connect With Online:Website: http://www.expressosho...

07/08/2026

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Brave Little Heart Neema Parusia Muhigirwa at the young age of 18.
Neema was born with dilated cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart muscle to become incredibly weak, floppy and enlarged.
Neema had her heart transplant in 2021 when she was 13 years old.
Naeema was an inspiration to everyone who knew her and showed exceptional courage and strength at a very young age. Neema, originally from Congo, moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where she underwent her cardiac care at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and later Groote Schuur Hospital.

May your soul rest in peace, Neema. Forever loved

Photo credits: Wynberg Girls High School and Paedspal.

27/06/2026