Just weeks after undergoing life-saving heart surgery, four-year-old Allicia Samuels has been given the all-clear to return to school in September, news that has her father beam
ing that she is now “back to being a normal child”.

The clearance came after her latest check-up on Thursday at Bustamante Hospital for Children, where doctors confirmed her wound had healed and X-rays showed no sign of complications, according to her father, Omar Samuels.

“Basically, she is on full recovery now, she’s healing well. Her wound has healed. We did the X-ray still and the X-ray showed that she is okay, so she’s happy, she’s cheerful, she’s eating, she’s not having any seizures [and] not complaining about any tiredness, she’s just a normal child as I can see,” he told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

Allicia underwent surgery at the hospital on July 23 to correct a serious heart condition. According to Samuels, she was discharged six days later, on July 29, and has since been attending weekly follow-ups to monitor her progress.

“Based on what we have seen there is essentially nothing to worry about and so, they’re basically dropping her [follow-ups] back to a month now, So, we’ll be back in a month’s time. If anything occurs, maybe at the next X-ray or so, we’ll see, but for now she is normal,” he said.

Samuels admitted that prior to his daughter’s latest check up he had major concerns about sending her back to school in September due to the seriousness of the surgery.

“Outside healing is okay, but we don’t know the inside and with kids playing and all that; we just were not too sure, but the doctor… she said it’s okay and she’s okay to go back to school, and so forth, but we still have to take our precautions though,” Samuels said.

However, Samuels noted that while the green light has been given, preparations for September are only now beginning.

“We’re not getting to that yet, that is the next step because we were still focused on doing the follow-up. We haven’t really jumped to any preparation as yet… now we can start thinking about school and preparations,” Samuels explained.

He said that the past weeks had been challenging for the family, but noted that they are grateful for the outcome and the progress being made by Allicia.

“We’re coping, trust me, we’re feeling a bit better. We were overwhelmed about the whole situation but we’re still not getting over the moon with everything. We’re on our toes and we are just watching and hoping for the best,” he told the Observer.

The relieved father also reflected on the importance of early detection which, he said, was key to getting his daughter the help she needed before it was too late.

“I’m glad I found out this about Allicia from early and got to it. Because, trust me, we don’t know how we could have handled it if it was later on… it’s good to know things and to check up on your kids from early so you know exactly what situation you have to go through,” he said.

He used the opportunity to urge other parents to remain vigilant and not take any signs of illness for granted.

“People just have to keep up with their kids and check them. Just keep checking them because they never know. Sometimes you’re not born with stuff, but things occur in your system and for us, we have to keep it going, because boy, I love my two daughters and I don’t want nothing to harm any of them,” he said.

The surgery to correct a narrowing of Allicia’s aorta was funded by a $1.2-million donation from Kiwanis Eastern Canada and the Caribbean through Chain of Hope Jamaica.