Dream Lottery: Surrey girl receives life-saving treatment at BC Children’s Hospital

Harmehar Samra, left, and Amanjot Kaur pose for a photo in their Surrey home on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Photo: Anna Burns)

Article Written By: Anna Burns

“Harmehar Samra is an energetic five-year-old who loves swimming, skating and going to the park every day. Like most kids her age, it is a daily struggle to tear her away from the playground.

Looking at her, one would not know that the Surrey girl who started kindergarten in September has already had two open heart surgeries and four cardiac catheterizations.

Harmehar is Amanjot Kaur and Kamaljit’s first child. They were excited for her to be born but things quickly took a turn soon after her birth at Surrey Memorial Hospital in April 2018. Harmehar did not cry or open her eyes.

The first 24 hours of Harmehar’s life are a blur, Amanjot recalled.

“It was a long induction before I gave birth, like five days long,” she said. “I was so tired.”

Harmehar was born at Surrey Memorial Hospital in April 2018.

After running routine tests, they found her oxygen levels were at 30 per cent.

She was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit in the hospital, where she was put on a ventilator and given medication to keep her arteries open. This was to ensure she would have enough oxygen to survive, Amanjot said.

Doctors told Amanjot and Kamaljit that their daughter was in critical condition, but they did not know why she was losing oxygen.

After she was stabilized, she was transferred to B.C. Children’s Hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with critical congenital heart defects.

Amanjot recalls that moment.

“We were in shock,” she said. “We were expecting a healthy baby.”

Doctors told the new parents that their daughter would need to have numerous surgeries throughout her life.

“It’s not easy to give away your child to put under the knife,” she said. “It’s very hard.”

Harmehar had two open heart surgeries in the first year of her life, the first when she was only 72 hours old.

Amanjot recalls that first year.

“It was hard because it was new to us,” she said.

The family had no warning about Harmehar’s heart defects, as Amanjot had a healthy pregnancy.

So, it was a shock when things changed so quickly after Harmehar was born.

“We were grieving.”

Processing that grief took many months for the couple. They searched for answers.

“And there was no explanation why it happened,” Amanjot said.

The team at B.C. Children’s helped Amanjot and her husband navigate their new reality and the couple say that help made them feel like they were not alone.

Since Harmehar was born, the family has had to make numerous trips to B.C. Children’s Hospital.

“We are frequent fliers,” Amanjot said.

There are a lot of unknowns and fears in needing to take your child to the hospital, Amanjot said. But she knows Harmehar will receive the best care possible there.

Even when things do not go as planned, Amanjot said, a team of health-care workers will work hard to find a solution – like when one of Harmehar’s surgeries failed unexpectedly after a few weeks. Doctors said it would be too dangerous to open her chest again.

“They came up with another option to stent her conduit, to get a good blood flow to her heart,” Amanjot said.

The day before the procedure, a 3D version of Harmehar’s heart was printed from CT scans.

“They practised the procedure on the (3D) heart so she they can get a better outcome.”

This type of research is made possible, in part, by donations to the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“BC Children’s Hospital is the only hospital of its kind in the province, tackling the most complex physical and mental health challenges facing children and youth today,” reads a post on BC Children Hospital Dream Lottery.

“Every step brings research teams closer to life-changing breakthroughs from the lab straight to kids’ bedsides in B.C. and the Yukon — and beyond.”

READ MORE: Ocean Park home worth $2.7 million up for grabs in Dream Lottery

“Like anything that’s groundbreaking, medical breakthroughs start small—often as the hunch of an idea in an inquiring mind. By supporting innovative research, you’re allowing experts to pursue bold ideas that can lead to mighty advances in children’s health,” said Malcolm Berry, CEO of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Of the 10 grand prize options for the 2023 Dream Lottery is a South Surrey home, located at 13156 19 A Ave., worth more than $2.7 million. Tickets for the lottery are available until midnight Oct. 12 or until they sell out.

Tickets for the lottery are available online at bcchildren.com, by calling 604-536-2491 or in-person at London Drugs and Save-On Foods.”

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