A wealthy Spanish businessman joined a humanitarian trip to a remote village in South America. While working in the village, he met a family whose 9-month-old daughter, Paola, was failing to thrive. She was bright-eyed and eager to play with her older siblings, but she simply did not have the strength. The businessman arranged for Paola to be tested at an academic medical center in Spain. Extensive medical testing revealed that Paola had a ventricular septal defect. She had a pansystolic murmur that was loudest at the left sternal border. Chest radiographs showed enlargement of the left atrium and ventricle, and echocardiography confirmed the presence of a ventricular shunt. On cardiac catheterization, Po₂ in the right atrium was 40 mm Hg and Po₂ in the right ventricle was 70 mm Hg. Mixed venous Po₂ was 40 mm Hg and systemic arterial Po2 was 100 mm Hg Following surgery to correct the defect, Paola recovered quickly and returned home to her family. The businessman receives periodic updates and photographs, all of which show Paola growing like a weed and looking healthier and more robust every day.