Israeli doctor flies 2,500 miles to Rwanda to save newborn with rare heart defect

A senior Israeli pediatric cardiologist traveled 2,500 miles to Rwanda to help save the life of an 11-day-old baby born with a rare, life-threatening heart defect in a mission that also marked a milestone for the East African country's growing ability to perform complex cardiac procedures independently.

Dr. Sagi Assa, head of the Interventional Pediatric Cardiology Unit at Wolfson Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, traveled to Rwanda after being contacted by Rwandan pediatric cardiologist Dr. Gerard Misago, who requested urgent assistance with the high-risk case.

The operation not only saved the newborn's life but also highlighted the success of years of collaboration between Israeli and Rwandan medical teams aimed at building local expertise in pediatric heart care.

The firstborn of a pair of twins, the baby, Angel, was born in a rural area of Rwanda and reportedly arrived at King Faisal Hospital in the capital, Kigali, in critical condition.

“Because it is a high-risk procedure with significant mortality, we felt we should perform it together in Rwanda for the first time,” Misago recalled.

Together, the doctors and their Rwandan team performed a balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty, a catheter-based procedure that widens a narrowed pulmonary valve without the need for open-heart surgery. The procedure successfully widened the baby's pulmonary valve, saving Angel's life.

Assa praised the professionalism of the Rwandan medical team.

"This was the culmination of three years of training and partnership. Seeing Dr. Gerard and his team perform so exceptionally under high pressure proves that Rwanda now has the local capability and confidence to treat complex heart conditions independently," Assa said.

“A mentor’s job is to make you independent, not to keep you reliant,” he continued. “I decided to be there to support him, but he was the one leading."

Simon Fisher, head of Save a Child’s Heart, also hailed the success of Rwanda's pediatric cardiology program.

"This joint operation marks a key milestone in the independent pediatric cardiology program in Kigali, ensuring that children across Rwanda born with congenital heart defects can receive world-class medical care in their home country," Fisher said.

Save a Child’s Heart is an Israeli organization dedicated to treating children with serious heart diseases, primarily from developing countries where pediatric cardiac care is limited or unavailable. They also train medical professionals from overseas to build sustainable local expertise.

The successful operation meant the critically ill infant could receive life-saving treatment in Rwanda rather than being transferred abroad to Israel or another country.

Since its founding in 1995, Save a Child’s Heart has treated more than 8,500 children from 75 countries and has trained pediatric cardiac specialists from around the world.

Israel and Rwanda reestablished diplomatic relations in 1994, and Israel opened its resident embassy in Kigali in 2019. The two countries have strengthened ties in recent years.

In 2024, Israeli President Isaac Herzog traveled to Rwanda to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, in which some 800,000 people were killed.

“I stood today with leaders from around the world to honor the memory of the victims of the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda,” Herzog stated at the time.

The Israeli president also emphasized that the Jewish people have firsthand experience of genocide and threats of annihilation.

“The Jewish people know all too well what it means to be threatened with annihilation. We know all too well what it means to be the victims of genocide, terror, and hatred against our people. Even today, as we are erroneously and falsely accused with modern blood libels, we remain the target of a vicious and evil regime in Tehran, with its proxies across the region, whose stated aim is the destruction of the Jewish nation. We must all stand together in the promise, Never Again,” Herzog pledged.