‘Hero’ Poppy a born fighter
Poppy Taggart looks just like any other 2-year-old – except for her ‘‘zipper’’.
Her ‘‘zipper’’, as parents Jo and Ashley Taggart call it, is the scar left behind from a young life filled with many operations on her heart. The first of these was at 5 days old and was followed by five more days with her chest incision still open so doctors could complete surgery.
Surgeons repaired an interrupted aortic arch, ventricular and aortic septal defects, and completed partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage.
‘‘She’s doing absolutely fabulous at the moment,’’ mum Jo Taggart said. ‘‘You look at her and you can’t tell . . . She’s got that normal spark and personality that 2-year-olds have.’’
Poppy will continue to be monitored and will likely undergo more treatment as she continues to grow, Taggart said. Like many others, the Taggarts had no idea 12 babies were born in New Zealand every week with a heart defect.
It was during her 20-week scan that Taggart found out Poppy had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, where the left side of the heart was severely underdeveloped.
They were given the option to terminate the pregnancy, but Poppy ‘‘was our little baby already’’.
They found a support network to help them through the rest of her term, through Heart Kids, Taggart said.
Their guidance meant ‘‘you knew someone else understood what you were going through’’.
‘‘You’ve got your family and friends [for support] but they ask the questions.
‘‘[Heart Kids] were just so supportive and had answers, were looking out for us and understood what it’d been like.’’
That was part of the reason why Taggart went collecting at the weekend for Heart Kids’ annual appeal. The other part was to increase people’s awareness. Both Taggart and husband Ashley were fit, active people who had run marathons and did not smoke or excessively drink.
‘‘There are a lot of people in our situation.’’
Poppy has 11 heart conditions in total. Taggart is about 40 weeks pregnant and often has to tell people her second child ‘‘is 100 per cent healthy’’.
Heart Kids, which does not receive Government funding, provides support to children with heart conditions from diagnosis through to adulthood. Chief executive Rob Lutter said more than 550 major heart surgeries were performed on children or babies every year.
‘‘While there are surgical procedures that can improve the heart’s function, there is neither a prevention nor cure for a congenital heart disease.’’
Poppy was one of Heart Kids’ ‘‘regional heroes’’ – an ambassador for the charity –during its appeal.
Visit shakeabucket2017.every dayhero.com/nz/born-fighterpoppy to donate.
"She's got that normal spark and personality that 2-year-olds have." Jo Taggart