The authorities of the Oregon Health and Science University's (OHSU) Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland have confirmed the arrival of Iranian baby Fatemah Reshad on Tuesday. Fatemah was barred from entering the United States on Sunday in the aftermath of President Trump's executive orders on immigration travel ban.
The four-month-old Fatemah was scheduled for an appointment with doctors at OHSU but couldn't enter the US again with her family following Trump's travel ban; they had been told to wait 90 more days before reapplying to enter the US and her plane had been forced to turn back from Dubai where her family had obtained travel visas and headed back to Iran with fears for her life.
Fatemah's grandparents live in Portland, Oregon and her uncle has been in the US for 13 years.
Doctors say they can reverse Fatemah's condition as tests confirm diagnosis
Baby Fatemah is suffering from a heart condition known as transposition of the great arteries (TGA) - and then OHSU's Doernbecher Children's Hospital is reputed to treat this condition exceptionally well, Portland Business Journal reported.
"OHSU Doernbecher is providing life-saving care to Fatemah as we do for thousands of children every year," said Dr. Laurie Armsby, associate professor of pediatrics and interim head of Doernbecher's division of pediatric cardiology.
Dr. Armsby will start off treating Fatemah with cardiac catheterization, followed by six hours of surgery carried out by Dr. Irving Shen, Doernbecher's head of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. Armsby said in a statement published by the Huffington Post that initial tests have confirmed Fatemah's earlier diagnosis, and the delay in presenting her has caused injuries to her lungs, but surgery and treatment could still reverse the damage done at the moment.
Children with TGA are best treated within the first week of life to increase their chances of survival, but doctors are confident they can give Fatemah back her life and she could return back to Iran within a few months from now.
A Portland immigration attorney facilitated Fatemah's travel waiver
iTechPost broke this story earlier. Meanwhile, Jennifer Morrissey, a Portland immigration attorney with Black Helterline was instrumental in securing a travel waiver for Fatemah and her family. Morrissey contacted Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) who reached out to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for the waiver to be granted. With the waiver granted, the International Refugee Assistance Project facilitated the family's travel and the rest is now history.
