Two Scars, One Story That Bonds Them Both

Every mom-to-be worries about having a safe delivery while bringing a healthy baby into the world. But for Hessy, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and hypothyroidism during her pregnancy, giving birth was anything but easy. Adding to her concerns, her baby had been diagnosed with a cleft condition before she was born.

An emergency c-section at a hospital  near Comayagüela, Honduras helped Angely come into the world safely, ensuring both she and her mother, Hessy, received the care they needed.

From the start, the family received psychosocial counseling and social work support to help them navigate Angely’s cleft diagnosis. While Hessy was able to receive care at a nearby  hospital, Angely needed to go elsewhere for specialized care. 

When she was 1 month old, she started receiving comprehensive care including nutrition, speech therapy and oral care to prepare for surgery. Just before turning 1 year old, her parents took her to the Hospital de Especialidades Pediátricas, an Operation Smile partner hospital in Tegucigalpa to treat her cleft condition. At such a young age, a life-changing procedure that would help her eat, speak, breathe, and live a healthy future full of possibilities. 

Bringing care closer to home is what Operation 100 is all about. Training local health care providers to serve their communities benefits everyone, not just patients with cleft conditions but other patients like Hessy as well.

“Operation Smile has changed our daughter’s life — and ours too,” says Hessy. Today she and her husband, Ariel, joyfully reflect on Angely’s journey, having received her second surgery at the same partner hospital to continue treating her cleft condition. “Operation Smile gave me the chance to meet my daughter twice — this time, with a brand-new smile.”