Afrim Vllasa, Gani Vllasa, Connor Kikot
On a warm August afternoon Gani & Afrim Vllasa stepped off their plane from Pristina, Kosovo into JFK International Airport. 12 year old Afrim had never left Kosovo before, let alone been on a plane. He and his father were nervous as they stood in line waiting to go through customs until OFL Rotary Past President and Albanian Gift of Life Coordinator Peter J. Kikot, along with his son Connor and their Port Authority Police escort greeted them with an Albanian greeting; ‘Mirdita, mire se erdhet’ or ‘Good afternoon, welcome’ in English. With that warm welcome came some relief and they were escorted from the back of the line and taken right through customs to their car and on the road back to the Kikot home in Oakland.
Afrim suffered from high blood pressure and a shortness of breath and two years ago was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). The most common major birth defect in children; it refers to a structural defect that has prevented the heart from developing properly. If the blood vessels that are surrounding the heart are not formed properly before the birth, the child suffers from congenital heart disease. The heart is not fully developed and the child has problems associated with smaller or obstructed vessels. Many of these problems are similar to the problems that adults have due to constriction of the artery after plaque build-up.
This relatively simple procedure was not available to Afrim because of his age. Many foreign countries are not able to perform surgeries/procedures, even simple ones, on children. The family must hope that the child lives long enough to become a young adult so that their organs can mature enough so that an adult cardiologist can perform the necessary procedure. More often than not, the child dies or the surgery cannot be done because the heart has been so over worked through the years of waiting.
Afrim taking a ride in Rotarian Mike Rose’s Ferrari. Afrim has a passion for fine cars……
Fortunately, through the local Rotary Club in Pristina, the family was put in touch with the Gift of Life Program here in the U.S.A. ‘Gift of Life’ is a program begun in 1974 by the Long Island District of Rotary International. Since then, many other Rotary Districts have become involved and now over 10,000 children from more than 36 countries have received cardiovascular lifesaving operations in the United States. In 1986, Our District 7490 Governor and other Rotarians, began the program in Northern N.J. and founded the Rotary International District 7490 Gift of Life Foundation.
The Oakland Franklin Lakes Rotary Club has hosted 24 children since 1998. “The family lives with their host family for a period of between eight and twelve weeks. Some much longer.” Commented 6-time host Peter J. Kikot. “We take care of all of their personal and medical needs while they are here and even try to help out the family back home if needed. We’re happy to become a part of their recovery.”
Following the successful procedure at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ, Afrim quickly rehabilitated and they returned home to Kosovo in late September. Safe and sound young Afrim is back in school and his father Gani is back to work. Happy that they returned safe and healed are his mother and two brothers.
We encourage everyone to check in with us regularly at a weekly club meeting or on our website for more information please visit: www.oflrotary.org. Everyone is encouraged to stop in and meet with us at a regular meeting held every Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm at Portobello Feasts. 155 Ramapo Valley Road, Oakland, NJ.
Photos and article submitted by Peter J. Kikot