For the Escarcega family, their worst nightmare becomes a harrowing reality. Their newborn baby is slowly dying from congenital heart disease. Doctors tell them it is the beginning of the end, unless a heart becomes available for transplant surgery. "Heart to Heart" follows Baby David's journey and reflects on the pioneering efforts of infant heart transplantation that took place 30 years ago with Baby Fae.
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti brought utter destruction to the country. Trapped under the rubble for three days, 8-year-old Sebastian Lamothe is faced with the reality of losing his parents, his home and his leg. Yet his courage prevails in the face of death.
Child abuse is much more common than we think. The statistics are staggering, with one in four girls and one in six boys molested by the age of 18. Three individuals uncover their childhood secrets of abuse while clinicians share the dramatic effect it can have on a person’s life. “End it Now” raises awareness about this silent killer and explores the part we can all play in prevention.
Each year in Egypt alone, 20,000 children are diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Roukaia, a 2-year-old girl from Alexandria, Egypt, received her death sentence the day she was born. Watch as doctors from opposite sides of the globe work together to save thousands of cyanotic children who are waiting in a line that could be longer than their lifetimes.
"One Arm Willie" Stewart is set to defy his physical limits while training for the physically challenged triathlon USA championships. Determined to help others with disabilities, this world-class athlete demonstrates that disability doesn't mean inability.
Access to health care for many people living in the Amazon jungle is a challenge. Like for Antenor, a father of seven who supports his family by producing agriculture. He has been sick and not able to bring enough food home. In a different village, 4-year-old Felipe has a difficult time playing with his friends. His heart problem is getting worse. Watch what happens next as a mission boat leaves a wake of hope.
After an unexpected pregnancy, Janett and Gian find out their baby boy will be born with a life-threatening condition called gastroschisis, a birth defect in which the intestines are outside of the body. Without immediate medical treatment, baby Theodore's life will be in danger, as soon as he is born. Follow the journey of a beautiful family, whose bond grows stronger during their biggest life challenge, and the doctors and nurses who pull together with hopes of giving Theodore a future.
For many, the difference between life and death depends on the country they were born in. Like 14-year-old Holman and 8-year-old Eva, who were both born with heart disease in Nicaragua. In their country, even if children survive the surgery, they run a high risk of dying from infection in the hospital afterward. With no money to explore foreign options, the families must undergo a test of faith that nearly shatters their deep strength of spirit.
In one of the worst storms on record, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines with devastating force. More than 6,000 people died and thousands more displaced, leaving a whole region left to face loss, hardship and depression. In the aftermath of the typhoon, an international behavioral health trauma team touches down to help those facing grief and post-traumatic stress. Journey through the eyes of Nona, a single mother of six, as she shares her story of survival; and Joward, a local pastor determined to help the people in his community.
A childhood friendship-and Facebook-could save John Brannon's life. While on the brink of kidney failure, John reunites with an old friend who suddenly realizes that she has the ability to save him through organ transplantation. Meanwhile in the same hospital, 5-year-old Chealsey Melendez is diagnosed with stage-4 cancer. Doctors harvest her own stem cells and freeze them so they can be transplanted back into her marrow at a later date, all in a desperate attempt to save her life.
Before 1984, the life expectancy in the small African country of Lesotho was 70 years. Today it's 40. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has ravaged the mountain kingdom, leaving scores of orphans and grandmothers to pick up the pieces of a shattered country. Instead of retirement, the elderly are facing a future of hard labor caring for their grandchildren until the day they die.
With the growing pressure and stress teenagers face today, a silent epidemic is on the rise. One in five teenagers cuts or self-injures his or her body. This documentary tells the story of three adolescents who strive to live life without hurting themselves, and raises awareness about this destructive coping mechanism and the help that is available.
With overwhelming widespread poverty and disease in Ethiopia, it's estimated that one in eight children are orphaned or abandoned. Yet in the western highlands, in a town called Gimbie, lies a hospital where non-profit workers take these lonely children under their wings. Follow the journey of Baby Bella, whose mother abandoned her at the hospital, and be inspired by the heroes who commit their lives to making the world a brighter place for these children.
Julie never thought she would be where she is now: healing from two gunshot wounds when her co-worker and his wife opened fire at an employee meeting in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks. In the midst of this tragedy, hope lives on. You see it in the eyes of Julie who is set on sharing her hope with others. You witness it in the heroic efforts of first responders helping those injured. And you feel it in a bond the community formed like never before.
This is the dramatic story of two hospitals: one fighting to keep the Ebola virus inside, and the other to keep it out. Follow Dr. Gillian Seton, a physician in Liberia, who is fighting to keep the epidemic out of her hospital in order to keep its doors open to patients who don’t have the deadly virus. A few hours away in Sierra Leone, meet James, a local healthcare worker who is risking his life to treat Ebola patients in the Red Zone at Waterloo SDA Hospital. And watch how one of his patients is trying to obtain community acceptance as an Ebola survivor.
After a major snowboarding accident, Andre’s athletic life completely changed when his left leg was amputated. But he hasn’t let that slow him down. Andre becomes a triathlete and finds himself training for the biggest competition yet: the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. Through years of hard work and dedication, Andre learns that life is not about the destination, but about the journey.
Wilber "Wil" Alexander has sat at the bedside of the sick and the dying for the last 40 years, inviting the wounded to tell their stories. This story follows Wil as he uniquely cares for sick, wounded, and terminal patients by walking alongside them and aiding in their search for meaning and healing in their time of unique vulnerability.
For the Purcells, their fairy tale life came to a halt when the doctor diagnosed Pat with prostate cancer. As the second leading cause of cancer death, prostate cancer affects one in seven men. The Purcells are set to fight this deadly disease and explore every treatment option they could find. Little do they know that 25 years earlier, a doctor 1200 miles away risked his entire career to pioneer a new cancer treatment using protons.
Follow an emergency trauma team as they transport injured children by air to one of the few level 1 pediatric trauma centers in the nation. From a near drowning to a child stroke, be inspired by some of the youngest members of society and their families as they fight to overcome tragedy.
Sixteen-year-old Alexis never woke up for school one morning. Weeks earlier she was added to the heart transplant list when doctors diagnosed her with a rare form of heart disease. But Alexis's heart stopped much sooner than doctors anticipated and now her family woke up to a living nightmare. Follow her journey through the eyes of her determined doctors and family who never lose hope.
For many women, like 30-year-old Alice, a cervical cancer diagnosis is a death sentence. With limited access to the HPV vaccine, no radiation treatment for cancer anywhere in the country, and lack of screenings, this preventable disease has become a deadly health crisis in Malawi. A nurse and ex-pat doctor are giving their all to fight this disease and comfort those who are dying.
While pregnant with twins, Angelina was told that her baby Matthew was unlikely to survive the pregnancy. Born with a health condition that damages the bladder and kidneys, Matthew underwent risky in-utero procedures that threatened his twin sister's life. They both survived but Matthew desperately needs a kidney transplant in order to stay alive. Will 3-year-old Matthew find the kidney he needs?
Malek Mohammad, a 15-year-old Afghan boy, set about collecting firewood for his mother so she could cook dinner. As he stepped into a field, there was an explosion, then another. Malek fell victim to two landmines. His legs, stripped from his body, now lay several feet away from him. Two years later, he comes to the United States filled with hope. His goal--to return home to Afghanistan walking.
A former football player and an avid sports fan, he can now only watch the games he loved to play. He knows deep down, if he doesn't make a change, he will soon die. Summoning every ounce of courage and determination, Armando begins an inspiring journey that opens him up to a world of possibilities with hopes of winning his life back.
Brad Brown, a hospital chaplain in the town of Paradise, risked his own life to help patients escape the deadliest fire in the history of California. Hailed one of the biggest heroes by Time Magazine, he is returning to his burned community with his family and is set on helping others do the same. But as emotional trauma hits residents, a behavioral health trauma team zeroes in to help those impacted by the fire.
Fourteen-year-old Erin Tharp is a star student, but then something happens that will change her life forever. When a mysterious illness sends her into a coma, doctors and family members are left desperately trying to solve the mystery. Six months later, Erin is still in a coma, and the family is hanging onto their last shred of hope for her future. Will something trigger Erin's awakening?
Witness the harrowing journey of two babies and their families through a hospital NICU. One battling a deadly disease, the other fighting just to take his first breath. Doctors must overcome the odds if they are to give these families the greatest gift of all—a healthy child.
Growing up in Spain, the Sabatés always dreamed of working with the less fortunate. After Ferran became a doctor and Conchita a nurse, they took positions working at a hospital in Angola just as civil war started to rage. Soon, their dream of helping others would turn into a nightmare of survival.
For women in Chad, having a vesicovaginal fistula not only means they lose control of their urine, but often their husbands leave them and they’re ostracized by their family and community. But there can be hope. Watch as Falmata strives for a meaningful life after being healed from a fistula, Rebecca searches for a cure after living with a fistula for 20 years, and Dr. Danae Netteburg works to heal these women.
With the hospital officially in disaster mode due to the pandemic, Dr. Michael Matus works double time as he oversees the care of all non-ICU patients, including Paul Marquez. Paul’s dream is to be able to pastor at his church once again. But with his oxygen levels so low, it’s uncertain if he’ll survive. In the meantime, Dr. Matus wonders when he’ll be able to spend time with his young family again.
In the midst of the pandemic, an OB/GYN doctor puts her own life in danger by going into work with a suppressed immune system. Despite the risks, Dr. Courtney Martin races to try to save a pregnant mother with COVID and her unborn baby.
An ICU doctor is being pushed to the limit as she fights to save lives infected with the world’s biggest enemy—COVID-19. With patients increasing at alarming rates and medical workers quitting due to burn out, how will Dr. Daphne Moretta find hope during the most challenging time of her life?
With COVID on the rise, a forensic pediatrician unveils a deadly secret impacting children during the pandemic—child abuse. The number of kids being abused has significantly spiked since the statewide shutdown and online learning at home. Feeling overwhelmed by the trauma her patients go through, Dr. Amy Young longs to create long-term support and hope for the children she cares for.
With the hospital facing a financial crisis, there’s concern that the hospital itself may not survive the pandemic. In the meantime, doctors question how to give hope to its community as protests against the vaccine get intense.
Maria had a successful IVF practice in Venezuela before moving to the United States to escape political unrest and seek medical care for her daughter. She is now forced to repeat residency if she wants to practice as a physician in the U.S.
As Ukraine feels the devastating effects of a vicious war, millions of displaced people search for hope. Some join the efforts of the Angelia Clinic, bringing medical care to recently liberated towns along the front lines of the war.
A few years ago Lost Rivers Medical Center in rural Arco, ID was bankrupt and on the verge of shutting down. CEO Brad Huerta is set on turning the hospital around and implements innovative solutions to many of the challenges facing rural healthcare.
Carlos, a father of six, finds out he has cancer and turns to a surgeon to perform a ground-breaking new procedure referred to as “jaw-in-a-day.” Only performed in a handful of hospitals in the United States, this intensive surgery involves removing the jaw and using the fibula in its place. Meanwhile, Carlos must grapple with the emotional struggle of a life- threatening illness.
A violence intervention professional in the heart of San Bernardino, CA, helps a recently released convict turn his life around through an innovative tattoo removal clinic.