Campaigns and Appeals
There are many ways that you can connect with HeartKids to help transform the lives of those with CoHD. Join a campaign or support an appeal to help raise awareness and much-needed funds today.
As you may know, every 3 hours in Australia, a baby is born with Childhood onset Heart Disease (CoHD), that means 8 families are impacted every day and the lasting impact of this diagnosis can leave them feeling so alone.
In May of 2022, Georgie was one of those precious newborns.
At 36 weeks’ gestation, Georgie’s heart rate dipped dangerously low, and she was delivered via C-section.
On Georgie’s very first night of life, she was placed on a CPAP machine for over 3 hours to support her breathing and to speed up her heart rate.
“I spent a lot of long and lonely days in the special care nursery with Georgie. I was forced to face the grim reality that our family may never have the chance to meet her.” Rachael said.
Finally, when Georgie was 3 months old, she became the first baby in Australasia to be diagnosed with Type II Short QT Syndrome – a rare genetic heart condition that increases the risk of dangerous heart rhythms and sudden cardiac arrest. There are only 250 cases of this condition worldwide.
It is unclear how best to treat the condition and given the lack of data, Georgie is now part of the research, paving the way forward.
Since Georgie’s diagnosis, her medical journey has been arduous. She’s had a pacemaker inserted, experienced multiple cardioversions*, and took part in a drug trial, all within her first year of life.
“Despite all these challenges, a significant moment for our family was celebrating Georgie’s first birthday because there was a time, we feared she would never reach this milestone.” said Matt.
HeartKids supports families impacted by CoHD like Georgie’s by providing emotional and practical support during times of hardship. Rachael learned about HeartKids while in hospital and was grateful for the invaluable support given to families like hers.
“I’ve seen HeartKids supports families like ours at some of the lowest and most challenging times of our lives. Our world is a better place because of them.”
Our Campaigns
Sweet Hearts for HeartKids
Sweetheart Day is a national awareness and fundraising campaign for HeartKids. The campaign is focused on Valentine’s Day (International Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day). The theme in 2024 is: Give your Heart to a Heart Kid. HeartKids is inviting generous supporters in the community to contribute to the success of Sweetheart Day by donating, fundraising, and helping HeartKids spread the word via social media, email, and word-of-mouth!
Hop for HeartKids
Hop. Raise. Help. The preschool and school hopping challenge
for kids helping heart kids. In our inaugural year, we’re inviting you to join us as a starter school to help us raise 100,000 days of heart help for kids.
Race to Remember
Race to Remember is an activity-based community fundraising activation for HeartKids. We race to remember the four young Aussie lives that are lost to CoHD each week. Whatever gets your heart racing, challenge yourself and get your body moving to support Aussie heart kids and their families in need.
Hero for HeartKids
