BABY PLUCKED FROM DISASTER, BURNED AND BROKEN Picture: ARTHUR EDWARDS
Matt love left £1m THE former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas left an estate worth £1million, it was revealed yesterday. TV producer Kevin McGee, 32, was found hanged in his Edinburgh flat last October after writing a suicide note on Facebook. His fortune is believed to have been what was left of a reported £1.8million settlement from Matt, 35, after they split in 2008.
HOT DOG A dog torched his owners’ home in Au, Germany, after accidentally turning on the gas hobs while they were at work.
MIRACLE TOT . . . Landina in field hospital after Haiti horror quake that destroyed Trinity hospital, inset, and at Great Ormond Street with caring Najma, right
UNDER normal circumstances they would never have met. Buckinghamshire mum Najma Latif was caring for her three young, healthy daughters while tiny Landina Seignon languished in a Haitian hospital 4,000 miles away being treated for severe burns. Then, on January 12, disaster struck and a series of events unfolded — including the intervention of renowned heart surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub — that brought the two together in an incredible bond of love and compassion. The Port-au-Prince hospital caring for Landina collapsed during the huge earthquake. She was trapped under the rubble for two days before being pulled free. Landina had suffered additional, critical injuries and her right arm had to be amputated. Meanwhile, her mother is believed to be among the 200,000-plus who died as a result of the earthquake. Compassionate British surgeon David Nott discovered Landina in a field hospital and secured her passage for treatment in the UK — her only chance of survival — with the aid of charity Facing The World. Before the earthquake, Landina
By SHARON HENDRY SENIOR FEATURE WRITER had been due to have dead bone removed from her skull after a burn injury and brain infection was a near-certain threat. Back in Britain, scientist Najma, 43, got a call from a famous former colleague telling her about Landina. She explains: “I had watched footage of the Haitian earthquake. Everything about the situation seemed so helpless and I was incredibly moved by the news reports. “Then in early February, I got a call from Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub. I used to work alongside him at Harefield Hospital as a cardiac research lecturer. “After leaving the post, I became a volunteer ‘host mother’ for his
charity Chain Of Hope. It flies sick children to the UK for heart surgery from all over the world and recruits families to care and provide a temporary home for them and sometimes their parents while they are undergoing treatment. “He told me Landina’s story and explained she couldn’t come to the UK without a designated family to look after her and her after-care. I immediately said I would do that.” On Friday, February 12, brave Landina landed at Gatwick after a gruelling 12-hour flight from Port-auPrince aided by people from the charity Aviation Without Borders. Najma was waiting anxiously for her at the airport but Landina was so sick she had to be transferred straight to a waiting ambulance. Najma says: “In the evening I finally got to meet her at London’s Great Ormond Street hospital. She was lying in her cot all snuggled up and she looked adorable, even though she was all bandaged up. “At that stage the doctors weren’t sure how extensive her injuries were but I was allowed to hold her and she laughed and smiled at me. “I kept looking at her thinking: ‘You have been through more in the three months of your life than most human beings have to endure in a lifetime’. I sensed her incredible character immediately.” Expert doctors at the hospital set
about saving Landina’s life. David Dunaway, consultant plastic surgeon at Great Ormond Street, said later: “The craniofacial team were extremely happy with Landina’s progress. “The area of dead bone has been removed, which reduces the likelihood of additional infection. A special vacuum dressing has been applied to support skin regrowth and will be regularly assessed. The wounds on her leg and arm were re-dressed and are healing well.
“There is no doubt that bringing Landina to this country was the only way for her to receive the complex care she needs.” Now, Najma travels to Landina’s bedside at the famous London children’s hospital each day and will take her home to Chesham for around three months’ rehabilitation when she is finally discharged. Next week, Landina will be transferred to London’s Chelsea And Westminster Hospital for further operations on her head and on her right leg, which needs more skin grafts. Najma’s eyes fill with tears as she confesses the strong bond that has already developed between her and the little Haitian girl. “She looks at me so intently and her eyes follow me around the room. I am very attached to her even though I’m try-
ing not to be, for both our sakes. She loves interaction so much. I spend hours just talking to her and cuddling her. She spent four weeks on her own in the field hospital in Haiti and obviously missed that closeness so much. She’s even started to talk, forming little sounds. “But I know staying in the UK permanently is not an option for Landina and it’s my job to focus on giving her all the love and care she needs without thinking of the future. “Whatever happens, I know I want to follow her progress very closely.” Najma says her own daughters Yasmin, 15, Safia, 12, and Zarah, nine, also adore Landina, and can’t wait to welcome home their temporary little sister. And her husband, account director Mak, 42, is also dying to meet the new addition. Meanwhile, Landina’s saviour David Nott is back in the UK and has continued to visit his special little patient. He is a vascular and general surgeon at Chelsea And Westminster Hospital and a world expert on keyhole surgery. Mr Nott volunteered
to go to Haiti to help the relief effort and performed dozens of lifesaving operations on trauma victims, including many children for charity Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF), which had cared for Landina. While in Haiti, he said of Landina: “I saw this baby when I first arrived. I have been watching her every day. It’s one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had. It is miraculous that we have got this far with her so I think we need to continue to try to procure the miracle.” The fact Landina survived at all was extraordinary — 20 nurses and the orthopaedic surgeon at Trinity hospital in the Haitian capital died when the building collapsed. Mr Nott fought against the odds for Landina. The authorities initially refused to let her out of the country because she had no papers. Then — thanks to Mr Nott — news of her plight rapidly spread worldwide and as offers of help poured in, the Haitian Ministry Of Health agreed to assess her deteriorating condition. It gave permission for Landina to be taken abroad for treatment. She was cared for in a car beside a
She’s been through more in her three months than most do in a lifetime
heliport as carers waited for her emigration papers to be signed. Landina will stay in the UK for several months and is likely to need further operations, including skin grafts to her head. Once she is well enough, she will return to Haiti. Aid workers there are trying to trace any of her surviving relatives. If they can’t, Landina will go to an orphanage or foster family in Haiti before being considered for inter-country adoption. Sarah Driver-Jowitt — executive co-ordinator of London-based Facing The World, which helps those with skull and face disfigurement and is funding her treatment — says: “We are incredibly grateful to the surgical team and want to thank the public whose donations have made this possible.
“Landina’s rehabilitation will be a long-term process and we estimate we will need to raise £100,000 for scalp and burns reconstruction operations and longterm prosthetic needs. “We hope people will continue to donate to Facing The World to help fund her further operations and longterm care. “We would also like to set up a fund for Landina’s future, for her education and general well-being.”
l Donations to Landina’s care can be made at facingtheworld.net or by post to: Landina Fund, c/o Facing The World, 266 Fulham Rd, London SW10 9EL l To find out about becoming a Chain Of Hope host mother, see chainofhope.org or contact Sue Nott on 020 7351 1978