North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Scars a lifeline for Heart Kid
Kate Jenkinson is forever grateful for the support she and her daughter, Olivia, have received.
Born with a hypoplastic left heart, Olivia had three open heart surgeries before she was nine months old and had her fourth and final as a five-year-old.
She was part of the first generation of children to undergo the Fontan procedure, a type of surgical repair, and had a 25 per cent chance of survival.
Now a happy and healthy 16-year-old, you would not know the Westlake Girls High School student was ever unwell.
‘‘It was a very challenging time, we spent so much time in hospital,’’ Jenkinson says.
‘‘Everything was a constant worry, but as she gets older we don’t dwell on it all the time.’’
She boasts an impressive number of scars from her operations, which Jenkinson says Olivia has a positive attitude about.
‘‘We tried to explain them to her and called them her lifeline, without them she wouldn’t be alive.’’
During those years their family benefited greatly from Heart Kids, which is holding its annual fundraiser in August.
Olivia went on camps and sport days with the organisation, and volunteers spent time with their family in the hospital.
‘‘Heart Kids basically saved my life,’’ Jenkinson says. ‘‘Without that support, our journey would have been different.’’
Now she’s older, Olivia plans to give back and volunteer with Heart Kids, helping children who went through what she did.
‘‘I know how hard it is and I hope I can go see them and their mums, and give them hope because it is very daunting and scary,’’ Olivia says.
As she moves from child to adult healthcare, the future remains positive but unknown for Olivia’s generation of heart survivors.
‘‘These kids are now living, they’re the first generation to go through it into teenagers. They would have died before that,’’ Jenkinson says.
Like most teenagers, she’s also been warned about alcohol, drugs and smoking, but, in her case, the outcomes could be extremely dangerous.
‘‘It would be dire. That sort of stuff is hard for any teenager to hear but for her it could be that simple,’’ Jenkinson.
Go to helpingheartkids.org.nz to donate to the Heart Kids appeal.