2Beards for HeartKids

Heart Kids are a registered Health Charity who are dedicated to provide support to families who have a child with CHD (Childhood Heart Disease), as well as being partnered with Australia’s leading cardiologists and researchers to provide funding to reduce the incidence and mortality on our children.

My niece Matilda was born with a loud heart murmur that was heard whist in hospital with pneumonia when she was 6 months old. Over the following years after seeing many doctors and enduring many tests she was diagnosed as having a coronary artery fistula. In Matilda’s case, she has a large (1.5cm in diameter) blood vessel that has formed between her coronary artery and her right atrium. Over the short 4 years of her life this has caused blood to recirculate within the heart and overwork, enlarging some of her heart chambers, and caused the left side of her chest to protrude. The prevalence of her condition is less than 0.025%, so very rare. This condition is not usually diagnosed until later in life when symptoms start to present, but lucky (or unlucky) enough, hers was picked up earlier.

Matilda recently underwent surgical repair of her CHD via a catheter procedure that plugged up her little extra artery within her heart. Whilst being in hospital and in the lead up to her procedure, Heart Kids were a pillar of strength to my sister and her husband providing an abundant amount of support and information. Whilst we feel lucky that Matilda has walked away from her condition relatively unscathed compared to thousands of other children across Australia, we feel its important that we share her unique story to help advocate Heart Kids and the amazing work they do. It is with this awareness and fundraising that Heart Kids can continue supporting the children and families and hopefully save so many beautiful innocent children.

For this reason we here at 2Beards are committing ourselves by helping to fundraise for Heart Kids Australia which in turn will help support those children and families who suffer from this condition.