Sixty -five children suffering from serious cardiac pathologies have already been able to receive care and life -saving interventions thanks to Rebellious heartsthe project promoted by the Onlus A voice for Padre Pio together with Pediatric cardiac surgery center in Taormina and alla ‘ASP of Messina.
Born from a random encounter between cardiac surgeon Sasha Azzati ed Enzo Palumbo, president of the non -profit organization, Rebellious hearts It is today the first real pediatric cardiac surgery program in Cameroon and central Africa. The initiative, strongly supported by the strategic management of the ASP of Messina, came to his in 2025 Third mission, consolidating a path of continuity that goes beyond individual interventions.
The choice to organize close and regular missions, in fact, not only made it possible to guarantee immediate care for small patients, but also of train the local medical staff, creating the foundations for a sustainable health service over time.
In a few months the project has already reached a significant goal: over sixty pediatric operations performed successfully, which represent a concrete hope for many children and their families.
“We have seen a marked improvement of Cameroonian colleagues – explains the primary of the center of pediatric cardiac surgery by Taormina Sasha Azzati – thanks to the comparison with Italian and international specialists. It is not only a health work, but an investment in the future”. The goal is to make Cameroon progressively autonomous, with the general hospital intended to become a reference center for the entire region, thus reducing the need to transfer young patients abroad. The project is based on collaboration and exchange of skills, a model already successfully experienced in Tanzania. Italian doctors, Cameroonians and Tanzani work side by side in a context of solidarity that combines professionalism and friendship. Among the interventions of this mission stands out the case of little Miel, met three weeks ago in Benin together with his mother Gloria. Suffering from a serious congenital heart disease and in critical conditions, it was transferred to Cameroon thanks to a real race against time between passports, visas and bureaucratic procedures. Opened by the team of Taormina, today the child is safe. “Bringing a child from Benin to Cameroon or Cameroon to Tanzania – underlines Enzo Palumbo – means facing complex obstacles, but seeing the concrete results repays every effort.” During the September mission just ended, 21 interventions were performed, bringing 65 total operations from March to today. They were part of the team: the cardiac surgeon Sasha Azzati, the cardiologist Rita Calaciura, the neonatologists Carla Cimino and Eleonora Di Tommaso, the perfusionist Danilo Zuccaro, the nurses Angelo Sansone, Giuseppe Trischitta, Mario Cortiello, Alice Vailato and Francesco Pecoraro, together with the writer Claudio Cantore and the reporter Matteo Arrigo. The team will return to Cameroon again in October for the fourth mission of 2025, which will close the annual program.