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Lunch in the Heart of Sydney

Sep 04 2023
Lunch in the Heart of Sydney Friday 29th September 2023 This year the Heart Centre for Children and Kids Heart Research are coordinating our firs...

Rising Star Award

Feb 22 2022
We would like to congratulate Dr Gillian Blue from Kids Heart Research, Heart Centre for Children who was awarded the Rising Star Award at the 2021...

Team Harley - City2Surf 2017

Jun 27 2017
Mum Danielle puts it beautifully: "Why we started Team Harley: To raise awareness for Congenital Heart Disease in memory of our amazing...

Tinytopia

 

One of our team, Julia Percich, had entered her artwork for an Art competition this month.  The theme of the competition this year is 'Tinytopia', and Julia's work is shown here. She had won first prize in the 'Adult drawing / painting ' area (in the Department of Adolescent Medicine - Youth Art Program 2014 (Children's Hospital-Westmead)).

I had chosen to draw 3 detailed pictures based around tropical fish and marine life. They are detailed drawings of life in a fish bowl, and the last picture is where a turtle escapes from the fish bowl.  I had previously completed a fish quilt and drew inspiration from this for these pictures, and the diverse marine environment.

I have also completed a series of 'heart cards' used in the Cardiology department (Heart Centre for Children-Westmead) to be sent on behalf of the centre for celebrating the milestones and other events of the heart children and their families.

In my spare time, I have made mosaic pictures, and would be keen to make a mosaic for the heart centre.

 

 

Ride Your Heart Out this weekend

Posted by Kylie Flament on 4 March 2015

Good luck to all of the riders who are biking from Katoomba to The Children's Hospital at Westmead this weekend, and thank you so much for your support!  We look forward to seeing you at the finish line. 

The Ride Your Heart Out event (an 80km ride) will be raising funds towards a new Heart Lung Machine.  For more information, go to www.rideyourheartout.com.au

Posted in:Fundraisers  

$110K closer to our goal

Posted by Kylie Flament on 12 February 2015

A Heart Lung Machine costs a whopping $500,000 - but over 10 years it will help to save thousands of young lives.

Thanks to the generosity of many donors, the hard work of several fundraisers, and the unwavering support of families affected by Congenital Heart Disease, we are delighted to announce that we have just clicked over $110,000 raised towards this vital piece of equipment.

Every dollar helps.  For more information see the Heart Lung Machine Fundraising page, or contact the Heart Centre Manager on (02) 9845 2326.

Posted in:EquipmentFundraisersHow you can help  

Grin and Bear It 2015

Posted by Kylie Flament on 3 February 2015

Last year this mud run and obstacle course was a huge hit with staff and families who participated.  This year promises to be even bigger and better!  If you are up for a challenge, with plenty of different obstacles for any fitness level, and you want to fundraise for a good cause, join us on the 22nd of March for Grin and Bear It.

For more information and to sign up, head to http://bandagedbear.org.au/fundraising-event/grin-and-bear-it/

Posted in:Fundraisers  

NRL Grand Final tickets help the Heart Centre

Posted by Kylie Flament on 7 October 2014
The father of one of our patients gave up his NRL Grand Final tickets over the weekend to be at his child's bedside, asking 2GB to auction them off to raise much-needed funds for the Heart Centre for Children.  With this act of generosity, Blake brought in $4,000 for us, which will go a long way towards our purchase of a new Heart Lung Machine.  Here's the email he sent to Ray Hadley that kicked it all off: Evening Ray,
I have listened often over the years and therefore new you'd be the man that could make this happen....if possible of course?
I'm sending you this message from the Edgar Stephan Ward at the Children's Hospital, Westmead - where my now 15 day old son is recovering from life-saving heart surgery. To give you the brief rundown, we found out at the 20 week mark during pregnancy that he would need a bypass (arterial switch) within the first couple of weeks of life - he was 4 days old when complications brought the procedure forward...
Posted in:FundraisersThank You's  

Little Eli on 7 News

Posted by Kylie Flament on 29 September 2014

One of our little patients, Eli, was on 7 News on Friday with his Mum, Elissa.  Eli has cardiomyopathy and is likely to need a heart transplant.  Elissa and our very own Dr Phil Roberts are encouraging families to talk about organ donation and what they would want if the worst were to happen to one of them or their children - in the hope that we can increase organ donation rates in Australia and give little guys like Eli a second chance. 

Watch the video here:

 

 

 

Posted in:PatientsStaff  

Our new exercise stress lab

Posted by Kylie Flament on 16 September 2014
  Welcome to our new exercise stress lab! Thanks to the generous contributions of Dr KC Lau (one of our retiring cardiologists), the wonderful organisers of the Soccer Marathon earlier this month (who purchased the treadmill component), and VFX (who donated the outstanding new wall mural, which took several hours to put up), our exercise stress lab is now one of the best in the world. The treadmill and ergometer (a sort of reclining bicycle) are used to uncover abnormal heart rhythms and symptoms such as chest pain that sometimes only show up during exercise.  Our old system had been in use for more than 11 years and we could no longer find spare parts for it, so we needed new equipment quickly, and these incredible donors allowed us to do that (and brightened the place up with some great art that was put together by Adrian Paraska, one of our physiologists). Thank you to everyone who contributed to this vital equipment and lovely new room. We h...
Posted in:EquipmentFundraisersThank You's  

Kicking Goals success on Saturday

Posted by Kylie Flament on 12 September 2014
A huge thank you to George, Vivian, Joe and Clara, and everyone who helped to make this year's Soccer Marathon such a success!  The Heart Centre for Children team played at 3pm on Saturday, kicking quite a few goals either way, and not only did we have a great time, but we were thrilled to be presented with a giant cheque that represents enough funding (split with the Oncology department at The Children's Hospital at Westmead) to purchase lots of new equipment.  On our list is a treadmill for our new exercise stress lab, a holter monitor and a temporary pacemaker.  For more photos and information, head to the Soccer Marathon Facebook page.
Posted in:FundraisersStaffThank You's  

Team Gigi

Posted by Kylie Flament on 8 August 2014
We are stunned by the amazing fundraising effort that Team Gigi, a group of 14 friends and family members of little Georgie, one of our patients, have put in for the City2Surf this year.  Team Gigi started off with a fundraising goal of $5,000 but with two days still to go they have already tripled that, making a big difference to our ability to purchase a new heart lung machine this year.  This is what the team have to say on their fundraising page about their motivation for entering the race and seeking donations: Our inspiration is a gorgeous little girl Georgie, (our GiGi) who has spent many months in the heart unit at Westmead hospital, and has undergone 2 major heart operations.
2013 was an extremely emotional and stressful time for [Georgie's] family as they juggled their time between appointments and visits with Georgie, and time with their eldest daughter, 3 year old Abigail, whilst still maintaining their jobs in order for money to keep coming in!
...
Posted in:Fundraisers  

How Noni the cow helped the Heart Centre

Posted by Kylie Flament on 7 August 2014
We are constantly amazed by some of the creative ways that families and supporters of the Heart Centre for Children raise funds to enable us to continue our ground-breaking research and to purchase much-needed medical equipment.  The family of one of our patients, Zachary, is one of the most creative in a while, putting their calf, Noni, up for sale at the Royal Easter Show and donating half of the proceeds (a whopping $2,500) to us!  They also sent us a lovely letter, saying: "We appreciate all that you did for Zach during his surgeries and hope you can put the money to good use by helping out other children in need." Knowing that we need to purchase some new monitors and prams for our ward shortly, we can't thank you enough, Zach and family! If you're inspired by Zach and his family's efforts, click here to see How You Can Help. ...
Posted in:FundraisersThank You's  

Mohammad's heart transplant

Posted by Kylie Flament on 5 August 2014

Mohammad is a brave young man and a talented soccer player who was diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of three that eventually meant he needed a heart transplant.  In this short clip he talks about the struggle of having to sit on the sidelines while his friends played sports, and coming to terms with needing a new heart, as well as the importance of organ donation (from someone who both gave and received).  Thank you to Transplant Australia for making the video and sharing it on YouTube, and to Mohammad's family for allowing us to share his story.

 
If this does not play in your browser, head to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuVDzGzIMic.
Posted in:Patients  
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