The plastic lid of a cake. That was what stood between death and Gabriel Felipe, a 3-month-old baby with severe bronchiolitis and purple blotches covering his skin at the Municipal Hospital of Santa Cruz, Brazil. 🍰
Ellenn Salviano, a 41-year-old doctor on duty, arrived for her shift on Monday, June 10, 2024, and saw what the hospital could not solve: there was no pediatric oxygen helmet. Gabriel had cyanosis, was at risk of cardiac arrest, and the transfer to the ICU would take hours. Ellenn took the lid from a cake box, adapted it to the available oxygen, and placed it over the baby. The improvised device worked for 4 hours — until borrowed equipment from another hospital arrived and Gabriel could be transferred to Natal. 👶
The SAMU doctor who coordinated the transfer confirmed it bluntly: that improvised solution was essential for Gabriel to survive. The baby also had a previous diagnosis of hydrocephalus and Dandy-Walker syndrome. Today his oxygenation has returned to nearly normal levels. 💙