Surgery Successful ‘His Lips Aren’t Blue’

A 6-year-old Romanian boy was asking for his mother and squeezing a nurse’s hand Monday after open-heart surgery.

Flavius Lazar was breathing on his own shortly after the four-hour operation at Deaconess Medical Center.

“He’s pink! His lips aren’t blue (anymore),” said Celeste Shaw, co-president of Northwest Medical Teams’ Spokane chapter.

Volunteers from the local chapter and Healing the Children brought the boy to Spokane last week to repair a heart defect. American children with similar conditions undergo such surgery by age 1.

Monday the Spokane Chiefs sent the boy a “Lazar No. 6,” jersey, a Cheney family sent a Hefty bag filled with toys “from Santa,” and a little girl sent her own brand-new “Tickle Me Elmo” doll.

For his mother, Aurica, the best gift came from Drs. Jack Leonard and Welzie Allen, who said the surgery went well.

For years, Spokane volunteers have worked in Romania and other countries. More than 40 Healing the Children volunteers went to Guatemala on a medical mission last month.

Last Christmas, Northwest Medical’s tiny Spokane chapter also distributed 500 gifts to Spokane children, helped Oregon flood victims and the Hutton Settlement in the Valley.

Other efforts continued Monday when the 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard began loading clothing, medical supplies, blankets and toys for transport to Romanian orphanages.

Twelve tons of material, donated by Spokane and area communities since October, will be flown from Fairchild Air Force Base to Bucharest in January.

The secretary of defense approved using one of the unit’s KC-135s to transport the humanitarian aid during a mission to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo