Iranian Baby Affected By Travel Ban Recovers From Surgery

First Posted: Mar 01, 2017 03:49 AM EST
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Fatehmeh Reshad, the 4-month-old infant delayed at the airport during President Donald Trump's Travel Ban, has finally had her heart surgery. She is now in recovery.

The infant was delayed in entering the U.S. due to the recent ban, despite the need for medical attention. Reshad had to undergo tests and treatment earlier in the month to fix her genetic heart defect, a condtion she was born with where two of her main arteries are reversed.

Originally scheduled to arrive for treatment on Feb. 5, she and her parents were delayed and had to work with lawyers and other officials when the order to ban travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries was implemented. It took two days for the family to process all the necessary paperwork and arrived on Feb. 7 after working with the Department of Homeland Security. The family's attorney, Jennifer Morrisey, said that the delay of two days was serious for her medical condition, according to ABC News.

Reshad underwent surgery on Feb. 17 with a procedure that her physicians said was more complicated, considering that it is typically performed within days or weeks -- not months -- after birth. Dr. Laurie Armsby, the interim head of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology of the Oregon Health Sciences University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital, revealed that the infant's heart function "looks beautiful" and that she is expected to recover fully and lead a healthy life, as per The Washington Post.

However, her physicians declined to give details regarding her procedure and current procedure at the request of her parents. However, statements by hospital officials put her at a five- to six-hour surgical procedure performed by a nationally respected expert on Fatemeh's condition, Dr. Irving Shen. Her post-surgery stay is expected to last for three weeks.

Helping Reshad and her family gain access to the waiver that let her enter the U.S. was Senator Jeff Merkley and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as immigration attorneys. Reshad's uncle Samad Taghizadeh, a U.S. citizen residing in Portland, shared, "In the beginning, I didn't have any hope for my family coming here, but I tried, and I was surprised how the people in the US have helped."

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