Elly, Heart Adult
23-year-old, Elly Regan was diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) prenatally and has had four surgeries including two open-heart surgeries since she was born. Elly was diagnosed with a rare form of CHD called pentalogy of fallot.
Elly’s surgeries include a Thomas shunt at 8 days old, holes fixed at 11 months old, a pulmonary stent at 13 years old and a full repair of pulmonary valve replacement at 15 years old. Elly’s brother was also diagnosed with CHD where he has two bicuspid valves instead of a tricuspid.
Elly, who lives near Rockhampton, describes herself as enthusiastic, loud and exuberant and has a very positive attitude on life despite her tough start.
“I love my daughter and reading, I don’t know if there’s anything that I hate,” she says. “That’s a lot of time wasted on negative energy”.
Elly has had to travel to The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane from Rockhampton for surgeries which have been time consuming and financially straining for her.
HeartKids means a lot to Elly and she is so grateful that she found them at 13-years-old.
“HeartKids camps completely changed my life. I went from an angry and alone young girl to full of life and love for my new friends,” she says.
“HeartKids gave me normalcy, the people working there gave me another family and they have given me the confidence to gain my bachelor’s degree and to live my life without worry. HeartKids gave me a group who understand how hard life is but also a group of people who show me everyday how precious life is,” Elly says
