4-year-old African boy gets lifesaving treatment at Norton Children's in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nouri, a 4-year-old boy from Burkina Faso in Africa, was born with a hole in his heart.

If he was born in the United States, he likely would have had a surgery to fix it in the first few months of his life. But in Africa, he couldn't get that.

So Nouri came to Louisville.

Debi McDonald, a chapter director for Healing the Children, made sure Nouri got the care he needed. Healing the Children works to help underserved children around the world get medical care they need, so Nouri was flown 5,400 miles so that doctors at Norton Children's Hospital could save his life.

"It's just the joy of my life to be able to do this work," McDonald said Friday.

The Kuul family opened its home and took Nouri in while he saw an array of doctors and specialists. What none of them realized was Nouri had many more issues. He needed multiple surgeries to fix his heart, kidney stones and a hernia.

"The first six to eight weeks was a roller coaster of 'Are we gonna be able to do anything?'" said Mark Kull, Nouri's host dad. "And the idea of having to send him back home to his parents saying 'I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do,' that will get to you."

But they all made it work. On Friday, Nouri celebrated his 4th birthday in style, joining his American family — which now includes a team of Norton Children's doctors — for cake and presents.

"We think it will really help him to thrive and grow and develop so well into a normal, healthy boy in the long-term," said Dr. Smitha Bullock, a pediatric cardiologist at Norton Children's.

They all FaceTimed with Nouri's father at his birthday party, knowing they'll be sending him back just next week. But it's the thought of making a difference in Nouri's life that helps.

"You never know if he's gonna have an opportunity — even if it's far less in-depth — to pay it forward," Kull said. "But there's a human element to it, where you're just kind of like 'Well, at the end of the day, we might not have solved all of the world's problems, but for that guy, we solved his problems.'"