A premature baby born in Samoa after his pregnant mother fled the tsunami is back in Auckland and about to undergo surgery.
The Ministry of Health last night sent an air ambulance on a mercy flight to pick up Tamatoa Ingamells from Apia's Motootua Hospital.
His parents, Sarah Roberts and Richard Ingamells, had earlier made a plea to the public for donations, as the only possible way to get him to the Starship hospital appeared to be to charter a medical plane at a cost of $100,000.
Doctors feared Tamatoa might die in the Samaon hospital, which has limited medical equipment.
But Health Minister Tony Ryall stepped in and said the Government would cover the cost of the family's return to New Zealand as the incident was "tsunami-related".
Ms Roberts told the Herald today Tamatoa was in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and about to undergo surgery.
About $3000 had been donated to the family to get the family home in the short time a bank account number was put up on the Herald website.
Ms Roberts said some of it was used to purchase a ticket for Tamatoa's father to get back to New Zealand on a commercial flight while she and their son were on the air ambulance.
The rest would be donated to aid agencies helping tsunami victims.
The family is hoping to hold a press conference this afternoon to thank the public.
Tamatoa, who was also born with a cleft lower lip and defects to his legs, is hooked up to oxygen and an intravenous drip pumping antibiotics into him.
On Tuesday, he "took a turn" and stopped breathing and the hospital did not have resuscitation devices.
Although he did pull through using oxygen, Ms Roberts said he could have been not so lucky.
Tamatoa was being fed breast milk through a tube in his mouth but he was not taking it well and needed to have a tube inserted into his stomach to give him more food.
Ms Roberts said she did not have travel insurance as she did not expect to go into labour so early.
On Tuesday, the Herald reported how the couple, who live in Waitakere City, had fled the Vacations Beach Fales resort on the island of Savaii when a tourist told them a tsunami might follow an earthquake they had felt about an hour before.
Ms Roberts then went into labour two days later.
After a visit to a local medical clinic and a hospital in Savaii, and a ferry ride in an ambulance across to Samoa's main island, Upolu, the family ended up in Apia.
Any money already donated for Tamatoa's return will be given to an aid agency to help tsunami victims.
How to donate to tsunami relief operations:
Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Deposits can be made at at any Westpac branch. All the money raised will go to the Samoan Government
Red Cross
- Make a secure online donation at redcross.org.nz
- Send cheques to the Samoan Red Cross Fund, PO Box 12140, Thorndon, Wellington 6144
- Call 0900 31 100 to make an automatic $20 donation
- Make a donation at any NZ Red Cross office
ANZ bank
Make a donation at any ANZ bank branch, or donate directly to the ANZ appeal account: 01 1839 0143546 00
Oxfam
- Make a secure online donation at Oxfam.org.nz
- Phone 0800 400 666 or make an automatic $20 donation by calling 0900 600 20
Caritas
- Make a secure online donation at Caritas.org.nz
- Phone 0800 22 10 22 or make an automatic $20 donation by calling 0900 4 11 11
TEAR fund
- Make a secure online donation at tearfund.co.nz
- Phone 0800 800 777 to specify Samoa the Philippines or Indonesia. You can also donate at CD and DVD stores.
Mercury Energy
- Donate at mercury.co.nz
or text the word Samoa followed by the amount you wish to pledge and your Mercury account number to 515 or by calling 0800 10 18 10.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is asking for help with the clean-up habitat.org.nz
Unicef
Make a secure online donation unicef.org.nz
or phone on 0800 800 194
