The call is out for Aucklanders to plunge into an icy pool for five minutes at the upcoming Heart Stopper Challenge event to be held in Auckland on 18th May 2012.  This act of courage by participants will help to raise much needed awareness and funds for the 12 Kiwi kids born every week with a congenital heart condition.

Melanie and John Walsh are two of the many brave souls who have signed up for this unique and fun challenge to support @Heart, the charity that has been helping them since their son was diagnosed with Ebstein’s Anomaly. Ebstein’s Anomaly is an extremely rare heart condition where the tricuspid valves are not formed properly causing malfunctioning of the heart.  Five-year-old Patrick is often ill with infections. Trips to hospital have become routine and the High Use Health Card has become a badge of honour for little Patrick.  

The Walsh family knows first-hand how vital it is to receive support from someone who understands and can offer practical help.  Melanie said, “Our world was turned upside down when we found out about Patrick’s heart condition.  We felt completely alone until we were connected with @Heart.  They supported us in many different ways and they made Patrick feel special by engaging him in fun activities with other heart kids.”

Lorraine Warshaw, General Manager of @Heart explains that the inspiration behind the Heart Stopper Challenge is the 450 open heart surgeries performed annually on children in New Zealand. During the open heart surgery a child’s chest cavity can be filled with an icy slush to slow the heart rate and metabolism, giving the surgeon a longer window of operating time.

The Heart Stopper Challenge sees teams of up to six people plunge into an icy pool for five minutes. These teams, dressed in costume for their plunge, not only demonstrate bravery and camaraderie but in the process have lots of fun. The Auckland Heart Stopper Challenge event will take place from 3pm on Friday 18th May at Takutai Square, Britomart. Our thanks go to Les Mills and More FM for their wonderful organisational support for the Auckland event. 

“Les Mills has been passionately supporting @Heart, we want to do more in the community to help get people active, and we see this as a good way to look after those who - through no fault of their own – need support so they can better cope with the challenges of their heart conditions” Jackie Marshall, Les Mills Club Manager, Les Mills Auckland.

MORE FM Auckland realises the dramatic effects open heart surgeries have on young Kiwis and their families and aims to do everything in its power to help @Heart by communicating key messages to their listeners and the public.

MORE FM'S Programme Director, Ande Macpherson said, "By promoting the Heart Stopper Challenge, MORE FM has a unique opportunity to promote the event, making our listeners more aware of the huge need for their support and also encouraging others to participate in the Challenge by taking part ourselves!"

There is no entry fee to take the plunge, but each team member is encouraged to raise at least $100 to support the work of @Heart.  Funds raised from the Auckland Heart Stopper Challenge event are used to support heart children and their families staying on the National Paediatric Cardiac Ward in Auckland and at home, through @Heart’s Family Support Programme.

Register a team or sponsor a plunger for the Auckland Heart Stopper Challenge on this website: http://www.heartstopper.org.nz/event/heartstopperauckland2012. 

In spite of the chilly challenge, participants feel warm inside knowing that their act of courage will make a difference to the lives of heart kids and families in New Zealand.

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Camp Brave Hearts 2012 was a huge success. The kids enjoyed their daily challenges of climbing, kayaking, and the various other activities which Lake Taupo Christian Camp offers.

A fun and unique fundraising event not to be missed.  Form a team of 4-6 people, dress in costume and plunge into an icy pool for 5 minutes.  Held in various locations around the country.

Camp Teen Beat 2012 - a week of outdoor fun, learning, and social connections for heart teens aged 13 - 17 years.

Like many school children of her age, Caitlin Simpson, 8, from Taupo loves to participate in physical activities and regular kid adventures like rope climbing and kayaking.  However, such adventures in life can sometimes seem a little out of reach for Caitlin.  She was never allowed to attend school camp because of her heart condition.

Caitlin would tell her friends that she had a ‘broken heart’.  She was diagnosed with a VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) when she was just two.  At the time, the condition did not affect her and she seemed a normal child, with no symptoms of her condition showing at all.

The reality hit when a routine echocardiogram at age five revealed Caitlin’s condition was more serious than first diagnosed.  She was born with ALCAPA (Anomalous Left Coronary Artery off the Pulmonary Artery), a condition where the left coronary artery is attached to the pulmonary artery instead of the aorta.

This news was really hard for Caitlin’s mum Trudy to accept.  To now know that her healthy child actually had a serious heart condition and needed corrective surgery to save her life was difficult to grasp.

In October 2008, Caitlin underwent surgery at Starship Children’s Hospital to correct her condition.  Trudy said, “This was to be the longest 8 ½ hours of our lives.  Nothing can prepare you for any of this - seeing your little girl hooked up to all those machines in PICU.”

Thankfully, the surgery was successful and Caitlin recovered quickly from it.

“The medical team was amazing giving Caitlin a new lease of life.  The family support workers @Heart have also provided us tremendous practical and emotional support during the whole process. They are just a phone call away and are always there for us,” said Trudy.

Last year, Caitlin returned to Starship to undergo another procedure as she had been showing signs of fatigue during sport.  While the results came back with nothing untoward at this stage, it serves as a reminder than Caitlin will always have ongoing heart problems and will need annual check-ups with her cardiologist & paediatrician to monitor her condition.

Caitlin continues to manage her heart condition and she has decided to join the Heart Rider team at Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge event again this year. Even though she may not be able to finish the distance, she wants to challenge herself and to raise awareness of the scale and scope of childhood heart conditions in New Zealand.

This year, funds raised through the support of the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge cyclists will go towards Kids@Heart and helping little hearts have a big adventure at Camp Brave Hearts, a camp run annually (funds permitting) in Taupo by @Heart for Kiwi heart kids aged 8 – 12 years. 

Camp Brave Hearts is a week-long event for heart kids to just be kids, to do regular adventurous kid things, and share their challenges in a fun, safe, supportive environment under the careful supervision of a medical team.

Caitlin is looking forward to her Heart Ride in November and even more so, to going to Camp Brave Hearts in January 2012.

You can help a heart kid like Caitlin have a big adventure by setting up a fundraising page on www.everydayhero.co.nz/event/cyclechallenge2011 and ask your family, friends and whanau to help support your ride by making a donation towards @Heart.  NP. You can also text HEART to ‘2427’ to make a donation.

Heart Kids Day Out is a live variety show that will guarantee to bring joy and laughter to special needs and disadvantaged children in our local community.