A heart patient, Ms Rebecca Apesti, 34, on Thursday appealed for public support to undergo an open-heart surgery.

Clinical evaluation conducted by the Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital confirmed that one of her heart valves (mitral valve) is severely defective.

The NCTC, therefore, needs US$8,000 dollars for the patient to undergo the open-heart surgery to replace the defective aortic valve.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Ms Apetsi, who appeared healthy, said she usually had some abnormal feeling in her body, indicating that her condition was gradually worsening.

‘It’s sometimes difficult for me to breathe, walk and even eat. I have realised I kept growing lean and even the cough is becoming unbearable now,’ she said. An enclosed letter signed by Dr Innocent Adzamli on behalf of Dr Lawrence A Sereboe, the Director NCTC, said: ‘This amount caters for the cost of further investigations, surgery anaesthesia, intensive care and boarding for a maximum
period of two weeks’.

”It is, therefore, recommended that all payments ought to be addressed to the NCTC.”

Source: Ghana News Agency