Woodley's life still in danger; doctors express hope
Haitian boy's condition remains critical, while body functions show improvement. 'Even when they pricked him he didn't show he was in pain; he is a brave child,' his aunt says
Almost a month has passed since 6-year-old Woodley Elysee was rescued from Haiti's disaster zone and transferred together with IDF aid mission for medical treatment in Israel.
Since then he has been laying in his bed at the intensive care unit of Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, with his eyes closed and many tubes connected to his body, keeping his blood flowing.
His bed was placed in front of the nurses' station, so that one of them, along with a technician would be able to supervise the heart-lung machine he is connected to at all times.
On Tuesday, Elysee went through a heart surgery on a congenital heart defect he suffers from. His condition remains critical.
Dr. Zion Huri, the Children's ICU manager told Ynet that as long as Elysee is connected to the heart-lung machine his condition will not improve.
"Usually it taked four to five days, however there has been an improvement to the other body functions, and the bleeding from his lung has stopped," he said.
Elysee's aunt, Judith, who has accompanied him all the way from Haiti and throughout his medical treatment in Israel, was unable to hold her emotions back. "When I look at him connected to all these tubes I begin to cry," she said emotionally, "in this situation everything looks grim and I just feel worse and worse."
Judith spoke about the complicated surgery her nephew underwent and said that "the wait was very difficult. I kept seeing doctors coming in and out and no one said anything. When I finally asked – they said everything was okay."
Woodley Elysee before his operation (Photo: AP)
Elysee's aunt is looking forward to the moment she will contact Woodley's parents in Haiti, but because of the extensive damage to the country's communication infrastructure, she has yet to reach them.
"People are extremely nice and the medical team is good and professional. If Woodley would have stayed in Haiti, we wouldn't have any hope," she said.
Judith noted that even at the most difficult moments before the surgery, Woodley displayed courage and kept his composure.
"At the last moments, he asked me for chocolate and tea. I asked him if he was scared, and he said he wasn't. When we entered the operation room I saw all the medical equipment and got scared; but he was all smiles. Even when they pricked him he didn't show he was in pain. He is a brave child," she said.
The Save a Child's Heart foundation, which sponsored the surgery and facilitated the surgeries of thousands of children with heart defects from around the world, said that the hospital received many phone calls throughout the day from concerned citizens who heard about Woodley's story and wanted to ask for his condition.
