Even the ancient ones realized the fragility of the heart – yet Homer described over 100 types of deadly injuries in battles. However, it was barely in the mid-20th century when surgeons dared to interfere and carry out a heart surgery.

Prof. Tsvetomir Loukanov is the head of the Pediatric Heart Center at Heidelberg University Hospital and is a most honored man due to the fact that he is among those German surgeons with lowest death or complications rate. Prof. Loukanov found his vocation as a child and cultivated carefully his dream to become a surgeon – and the inspiration was in the books of the doctors – writers. The high school in his birthplace - the town of Troyan, the Pleven medical university and the National Cardiology Hospital gave him the grounds - so he calls himself ‘a Bulgarian doctor’.

Two decades ago Prof. Loukanov went to Heidelberg, in order to devote himself to science at the National Center for Tumor Diseases – and it was love at first sight: ‘I opted for Heidelberg, or Heidelberg opted for me…’

‘Pediatric cardiac surgery is really interesting, as we come upon new malformations every day – those are over 100 and there are combinations as well,’ the surgeon says. ‘The age of the patient mattered some 50 years ago, for the pioneers of cardiovascular surgery. They were the true heroes. Our challenge is more like to cope with diseases that used to be considered incurable until recently. It is an interesting fact that the path to the heart is a short one – only 2 – 3 cm under the skin, but surgery needed 2,500 years to walk this path. That is why our generation is among the happiest ones as it can step on this basis and correct cardiac malformations even with newly born kids.’

The surgeon heads an international team and what he really likes about his doctors is that they do know how to feel happy for someone else’s success. They all see the work with the parents as a priority, because winning their trust is the only way to make the miracle happen. ‘We need to show empathy, since those people come from different social and religious groups,’ the professor says and adds:

‘We are really thrilled about refugees, as we have a new child with heavy malformations and a heavy fate almost every week – and we are not used to see those in West Europe anymore. We have recently had this surgery of a 12-year-old girl from Afghanistan whose heart defect was really serious. I don’t think there have ever been anything like this worldwide – medical logics says the child should have died yet in the first or second year of its existence. However, the kid walked along the entire road to Germany with his parents instead. We are all very happy for her, as I think what the parents did was heroic – and they said they escaped from Afghanistan with the only purpose of helping their child. At present the treatment of these people is a serious issue, but I don’t think there is a normal person and a Christian who could possibly deny to help in a rich county like Germany. We have enough health funds and those can take care of the refugees’ treatment. That is why nobody in the hospital raises the issue of their health insurance – we are just trying to help them.’

The Hand aufs Herz /Hand on Heart/ book of Prof. Tsvetomir Loukanov will be translated in Bulgarian by the end of 2018. He describes there different cases from his practice together with two of his German colleagues. Their idea is to provide assistance in the struggle of the parents over the long days and nights in the hospital – they ought to see that there have been other stories with other children just like their own and also that they are now facing people whose main goal is to help.

‘My family is my strength,’ the doctor says, admitting that he wouldn’t be able to do it without his wife – also a doctor and a lecturer in Heidelberg, and their two children. ‘I would like people to know that two Bulgarian doctors have worked at Heidelberg and have left some trace there,’ Prof. Tsvetomir Loukanov says on his dream.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev