Hole-In -The -

Heart Baby

Six-year-old Leitoata, the "little girl from the jungle village”, won all icarts when she arrived in Melbourne ! rom the New Hebrides for a delicate ►peration for a hole-in-the-heart.

Her trip was organised by the ’resbyterian Mission, and with came her father, 32-year-old Caluare, a New Hebrides school eacher, who visited Melbourne’s Alfred lospital twice each day while the lectors made tests to see whether could undergo the operation.

Melbourne newspaper readers took farm interest in Leitoata’s progress, nd toys and gifts showered in, specially following the operation on ipril 18. Leitoata soon began to get trong again, and towards the end of ipril the doctors said Kaluare should e able to take his daughter home in few weeks. Pictures appeared of >eitoata playing with her toys, or earning to blow bubbles with her ather.

Then suddenly one morning came he unexpected news that Leitoata was ead.

Kaluare packed his case full of he toys, the teddy bears, the koalas lie dolls—which would now be given > the people of his village on the tiny •land of Leleppa, off Efate—and flew tie 2,000 miles back home.

As Kaluare left from Melbourne, nother plane brought a letter to PIM” in Sydney from Mr. and Mrs. . J. MacCauley, of isolated Penrhyn >land, in the Cooks, where Mr. lacCauley is Resident Agent. They sked for a copy of the photograph elow, because it is the only one is sistence with them and their four ear-old adopted daughter. Cecelia.

PIM” printed it in February, 1960, nd Cecelia died in a US hospital last ctober following a heart operation.

She had gone to America for it ith the help of the American owner F the yacht “Wild Goose II”, Mr. fax Wyman. "It was a fairy tale”, lys Mr. MacCauley in h’s letter, add ig that he only hopes one day, tmehow, he can do something in ;turn for Mr. Wyman.

Photos: Melbourne "Sun News-Pictorial" and J. P. Shortall