In honour of precious little Priya

ALESHA Weston suffered the heartbreak of losing her daughter Priya to a rare heart defect at just nine weeks old, but she is channelling her grief into fundraising and setting up a support network for other Tasmanian families.

“My precious baby girl was diagnosed with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) at my 20-week scan,” Ms Weston said.

“My world came crashing down. A girl, exactly what I had wished for. Priya was born on the 5th of January, 2016.

“In her nine short weeks she underwent four open heart surgeries. I’ll never forget what my precious little girl went through in the last 11 days of her life.

“Nothing can compare to losing your child but with the right support you get through it.”

Ms Weston, who has three sons aged 10, 15 and 17 and now a healthy 11-week-old baby girl, was supported by the HeartKids organisation while she was in Melbourne receiving care.

“I had to travel back and forth to Melbourne during my pregnancy and relocate there for the birth of Priya. HeartKids helped me financially with food and support.”

HeartKids funds programs and research to help support the 64,000 Australian children, teens and adults affected by congenital heart disease.

In Tasmania, the organisation is represented only by volunteers, but Ms Weston is trying to help it gain a firmer foothold here by fundraising and raising awareness about its work.

Most recently, she took part in the organisation’s national Two Feet & a Heartbeat 4km walk in honour of the four lives lost to congenital or acquired heart disease every week, and ran a fundraiser for HeartKids at her workplace.

“I’m hoping to get a lot more awareness out there and involve the wider community,” she said.

“Ultimately I want families in Hobart to have the same support and facilities that are available on the mainland.”