Ellie family’s appeal from the heart..

Brave tot facing major op

THE parents of a toddler facing open heart surgery have appealed for help covering their living costs while their baby is in hospital.

Little Ellie Mcauley, from Ballymena, Co Antrim, was born with a complex defect and may have to spend several months recovering following the fivehour procedure. However, children’s cardiac surgery in Northern Ireland has been axed so the operation will take place at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. This means dad Stephen will be away LOVE With dad Stephen and mum Joanne from his job as an IT officer for an unknown period and he is worried about the impact this will have on his ability to support his family. The 46-year-old said: “It was a difficult decision to make this appeal because I don’t like asking anyone for money but people kept saying they wanted to help and this is one way that they can.” Ellie, who is 20-months-old, was born with Down’s syndrome and a number of serious medical complications, including transposition of the great arteries. This means her pulmonary artery and aorta are in the wrong place so her brain is not getting enough oxygenated blood. Stephen added: “So far, Ellie is doing OK and nothing has happened to force their hand so we think she will be having the surgery in a couple of weeks. We have to wait to find out because they are actually flying a specialist over from Australia who will be present for the operation because her case is so rare. “We do hope to get a bit of notice but the last time it happened we had 24 hours and then we had to fly to London. “It is a big worry for us as her parents but it doesn’t bother Ellie at all, it is all she has known, and she is still her happy, smiley self no matter what.” To donate to the appeal visit www. gofundme.com/3mm8tbk