A Rwandan surgeon helped resuscitate a 71-year-old Israeli man who suffered cardiac arrest shortly before emergency surgery to remove a large tumour from his heart. Dr Jean de Dieu Nsanzimana, who is undertaking a five-year fellowship in congenital and paediatric cardiac surgery at Wolfson Medical Center in Israel, was among the first to respond when Roni Moshe suffered cardiac arrest at the hospital in Tel Aviv in July. Nsanzimana began chest compressions as the medical team worked to restore his heartbeat. ALSO READ: Hope restored: 25 children get free heart surgery in Rwanda–Israel mission Moshe had gone to the medical centre after experiencing fatigue and sharp chest pain. According to Nsanzimana, Moshe suffered cardiac arrest as he was signing the surgical consent forms. The tumour had blocked his mitral valve, affecting blood flow through his heart. After his heartbeat was restored, Moshe was sedated, placed on a ventilator and taken to the operating theatre for emergency surgery. The surgical team placed him on cardiopulmonary bypass and removed an eight-centimetre tumour from his left atrium. Dr Hagai Dekel, director of the Adult and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Division at Wolfson, said seeking medical attention right after experiencing unusual symptoms was critical to Moshe’s survival. “Saving lives in Israel is an incredible honour. Israel and Save a Child’s Heart have done so much for my country,” Nsanzimana said. Nsanzimana is training at Wolfson through a fellowship supported by Save a Child’s Heart, an organisation that provides cardiac treatment to children from countries where access to specialised care is limited and trains medical professionals from around the world. He is expected to return to Rwanda after completing his fellowship and work at King Faisal Hospital. Nsanzimana is expected to become Rwanda’s first paediatric cardiac surgeon.
