She was barely a day old.
At the Government Rajindra Medical College and Hospital in Patiala, India, doctors discovered that the newborn suffered from such a rare congenital abnormality of the esophagus that she could not swallow either milk or her own saliva. Every minute without intervention increased the risk of a chest infection that could have cost her life.
A team of seven specialists, led by Dr. Ravi Garg, along with Teg Rabab Singh and Sukrit Singh in surgery, and Parmod Kumar, Tripat Kaur Bindra, and Sumit Soni in anesthesia, operated on the baby. They created an opening in the esophagus through the neck to drain the saliva and placed a feeding tube while her tiny body recovered. Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh confirmed that the surgery was a success: the girl who could not swallow now has a second chance to grow.