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Sesame Street Duo + Chris
Story
HeartKids QLD
HeartKids QLD offer a range of supports and advocacy for Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) in babies and young people in QLD.
QLD - HeartKids
Each year, between 2,400 and 3,000 Australian babies are born with a form of congenital heart disease. It is the most common congenital disorder in newborns affecting up to 1 in 100 births which means by the end of today there will be about 8 more babies born in Australia that suffer some form of CHD.
In 2017, 152 children died from underlying issues relating to CHD.
They do this a number of ways and too many to note but some include:
• Education and information resources
• Mental health support via HeartKids and external mental health supports
• HeartKids Helpline services, five days a week
• Peer support programs in your area
• Basic meals for hospital stays and accommodations
• Playroom with toys and gaming consoles – believe me was a godsend with other young children that needed to be entertained for hours on end
• And my personal favourite – “Beads” to collect, a HeartKid will get a “Bead” to symbolize each and every operation or procedure they have to go through in their journey, they can add these to a necklace – sounds silly I know but this is important to have a reminder of just how much one goes through to beat this disease – an not this is not a long necklace by any stretch of the imagination in comparison to others
My Story
Alot of you might not know my second youngest son Archibald (Archie) was born with some significant heart issues.
He had to undergo heart surgery at four days old to correct a Coarctation of the Aorta and two Atrio-ventricular Septal Defect (AVSD or holes in the heart) to save his life, the Coarctation would have been fatal after 5-6 days after birth if not corrected.
This was a nerve wracking 10-hour long surgery, as you can imagine it was something my wife and I had no pleasure in waiting for an outcome of.
This surgery was completed by a gentleman I swear it was old enough to be my great-great-grandfather but was told to be the best in the business, but one thing My Wife and I had noticed is the difficulties and challenges families like us might experience during this time in their lives and their own journey.
My Wife and I lived about 20 minutes away from Mater Children’s Hospital so we could still continue our day-today life and work commitments and travel back and forward to the hospital each day, but could you imagine a family that might have to travel hundreds if not thousands of kilometres just to experience the same medical assistance?
While Archie was in hospital we did meet two families in that same situation. One of them been a young married couple where the husband was part of the Australian Defence Force (and was on deployment overseas at the time of the birth) and the wife having to give up her work to come live in Brisbane for three months while Archer (such a coincidental name to Archie) was subject to his life saving surgeries.
The experience that HeartKids supplied to us was amazing and we could see the difference this made to people that are in the same situation as us like the above family but may suffer other external factors like where they live etc.
Today
Archie is now 12 years old and has got most of his challenges behind him, notwithstanding he still has some issues with day to day life, like getting short of breath very quickly, being VERY small for his age – the smallest in his year and also some delayed learning abilities etc.
The Biggest one will be that chest scar, which I am positive he will show off to get all the ladies later in life.
He is definitely giving his mother and I a fair share of teenage issues.
He has now started high school and is looking to do something in the area of information technology, like being a YouTuber.
The Challenge
As mentioned Harrison and myself are going to complete the 10km Bridge to Brisbane this year.
Now one might say this is easy (not many I might say as well) but Harrison and myself are going to complete this while dressed as Elmo and Cookie Monster – yes full suits.
I am looking to get people donating so we can raise as much as we can for such a worth while cause, we have set a initial target of $1500.00 for our team called – The Sesame Street Duo (trademark pending).
We are hoping to move this target as the flood of donation come in.
I am not after everyone to donate millions – cause I know funds are tight everywhere these days - but if everyone donated a little we can all make a huge difference to families when it is most needed.
Thanks for your time to read over this and I hope you are able to donate anything – even if it is a little bit to help us raise money for HeartKids QLD.
HeartKids Limited
Over 250,000 children, teenagers and adults live with childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD), and their many family members and carers are also impacted.
HeartKids is the only charity in Australia dedicated to supporting kids with CoHD and their families throughout life. We rely on community support to provide our support services for families and to fund life-changing and vital medical research projects.
With a team of over 40 staff and volunteers—many with lived experience—HeartKids partners with more than 30 key organisations to deliver care and support in hospitals, clinics, and communities nationwide, striving to reach as many impacted as possible.
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