Jordyn’s got a good heart Cardiac conditions can touch everyone

NEWS

THREE weeks ago, nine-yearold Jordyn Koops was having major open heart surgery.

Today, she’s playing with her brothers in the family’s Zuccoli backyard.

Jordyn was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects which were present at birth.

Jordyn’s mum, Georgina Philpott, describes the condition as an “invisible disease”.

“You can’t tell she’s sick just looking at her,” she said. “Children bounce back really fast.”

Georgina and partner Dennis Koops first learned something was wrong with their daughter’s heart during a 24week scan.

Doctors warned Jordyn would need surgery after she was born to repair her heart.

At just six months, their baby girl was rushed into surgery as her skin turned blue CONCERNED MUM GEORGINA PHILPOTT due to low oxygen levels.

“It was failure to thrive, she was unable to grow,” Ms Philpott said.

Despite the serious operation at such a young age, Jordyn’s health has been relatively stable. But early this year, doctors wanted to perform another operation to correct part of her heart.

“It is very hard because the surgery isn’t offered here,” Ms Philpott said. “The whole family goes, but patient travel will only pay for one parent,”

A new National Congenital Heart Disease Survey, released this week, found 40 per cent of patients surveyed travelled more than 200km to access vital cardiac treatment, which often meant large out-of-pocket expenses and time off work.

Ms Philpott said when their family travelled to Melbourne for Jordyn’s surgery last month, the cost of sending two adults and four kids travelling interstate quickly added up.

Every day, eight Australian babies are born with congenital heart disease and four die from the disease each week.

Ms Philpott was born with the same condition, but doctors don’t know if it’s hereditary.

She is one of 30,000 Australian adults living with congenital heart disease.

The survey also found 77 per cent of patients reported feelings of anxiety, which Ms Philpott said was true for their situation.

“It’s added a lot of stress for us, and I know (Jordyn) was really worried in the weeks before her operation,” she said. Jordyn Koops, 9, dad Dennis, Cooper, 5, Rhyder, 9, Jasper, 5 months, and mum Georgina Philpott