A premature baby born in Samoa after his pregnant mother fled the tsunami underwent surgery in Auckland yesterday afternoon to clear his airways.
On Thursday night the Ministry of Health sent an air ambulance on a mercy flight to pick Tamatoa Ingamells up from Apia's Moto'otua 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 Samoan 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 spoke to the Weekend Herald yesterday while Tamatoa was in recovery after his operation. He is in the paediatric intensive care unit.
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 buy a ticket for Tamatoa's father on a commercial flight while she and their son were on the air ambulance.
The rest would be given to aid agencies helping tsunami victims.
Tamatoa, who was also born with a cleft lower lip and defects to his legs, had been hooked up to oxygen and an intravenous drip pumping antibiotics into him while in Samoa.
On Tuesday, he 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.
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, fled the Vacations Beach Fales resort on the island of Savaii when a tourist warned them of a tsunami.
Ms Roberts 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.
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
