EVERY parent’s worst fear is losing a child. Six years ago, Katherine and Elliott Byrne tragically lost their 3-month-old son Elijah to heart disease, who was diagnosed just 10 days after his birth. During that difficult time, Katherine and her family had the support of the HeartKids foundation, who helped them through one of the most heartbreaking ordeals a family can go through.
HeartKids is a not-for-profit charity organisation focused on supporting and advising people impacted by childhood heart disease (CHD), which is one of the largest causes of infant death in Australia. Every day, eight children are born with heart disease, and tragically, four lives are lost each week.
“When you look at a heart child, you don’t realise they’re unwell. A lot of people don’t know about HeartKids and how common heart conditions are unless they’re faced with it,” said Katherine… “Before we had Elijah, we didn’t realise how many kids actually died from heart conditions every day. It’s very common.”
Since her son’s passing, Katherine has raised funds every year for HeartKids, gaining a total of $16,568.71 as part of the families ‘Elijah, our little warrior’ fundraiser. This year, Katherine took part in ‘Hero for HeartKids’, where her workplace, GV Vets, dressed up as superheroes for the HeartKids foundation. With a donation box, raffles, homemade scrunchies, bibs, and cookies for sale, over the month of June, the Byrne family raised $2,431.30 for the charity.
“We’re pretty excited. I didn’t realise how much we actually raised after all this time,” said Katherine.
Speaking to the charity that helped them through a significant hardship, Katherine emphasised the importance of HeartKids and they continuous support to families suffering from heart disease.
“Because HeartKids are not for profit, they rely on donations and funding that keep the service happening. They are the difference between parents being able to stay with their children on that journey or having to go back to work and trying to work out some other way of dealing with everything.
“Heartkids are invaluable to a lot of people.”
Katherine and Elliot would like to help everyone who has been involved in the fundraiser and everyone who has donated funds. Your contributions are highly appreciated and will go to those in need.
If you would like to donate to HeartKids, visit https://www.heartkids.org.au/donations
