In January 2020, InSé Onlus Foundation, which has managed the paediatric ward in Kimbondo for the last 14 years, gets in touch with Flying Angels and shares Joyce’s story with us. In the meantime, the Covid19 emergency starts to become a global threat, and would soon get out of proportion.
InSé Foundation writes: “Our young patient urgently needs a paediatric cardiac surgery. Bambino Gesù Hospital, in Rome, has examined his medical records, and is willing to welcome Joyce and operate on him. He will be admitted on February 25th”.
The departure
Flying Angels immediately takes action and finances his flight ticket. However, the flight that should have brought Joyce to Italy is cancelled shortly after, due to the Covid pandemic.
Flying Angels manages to quickly provide another ticket, which allows Joyce to get here on time for his life-saving surgery.
Surgery
When Joyce is admitted in Bambino Gesù Hospital, he is in a more critical state than expected: after a series of examinations, he is finally operated on April 2nd in Rome. The surgery goes extremely well, and Joyce, who is strong and brave, recovers sooner than expected.
Back home
In the meantime, all international transfers are blocked because of the pandemic, and Joyce cannot go back to Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
His mom, worried and so far away, is anxious to see him finally healed, and give him a much needed hug.
The airline Joyce has travelled with before cannot guarantee the return flight. His return is postponed until May, then until June, as the airline keeps cancelling their flights: Congo is still off limits because of the pandemic. But Flying Angels manages to contact the only airline that grants access to Congo from Europe, and finally, after six long months, Joyce can go back home to his mom.
