Merapi Uangakore

Merapi is 7 years old. Like many other little girls of her age, Merapi loves nail polish, singing, drawing, dressing up, and playing with her pet rabbit. Unlike other children of her age, the place that Merapi has frequented most is not the playground or her school, but the paediatric cardiac unit at the children’s hospital in Auckland.

Merapi was born with a complex heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart (which means her heart is missing the side that pumps blood around her body) and she has spent a large part of her seven years in hospital for corrective surgeries and procedures.  She had the first of her three open-heart surgeries when she was just six days old.

Merapi's mum Paula was told about Merapi’s condition when she had her 20-week scan, and she knew that the journey ahead for her child would be challenging.

Merapi had her second open-heart surgery at two months of age and was among the first few heart kids to be admitted to Ward 23B -the Paediatric Cardiac Unit at the Auckland Children’s Hospital- soon after its transfer from Greenlane Hospital.

When she was two, Merapi's heart condition deteriorated. She went into heart failure and was hooked up to oxygen for seven months. Two years later, Merapi’s condition had still not improved and so another open-heart surgery -scheduled for her fourth birthday- could not go ahead. 

Things started to look up for Merapi with the birth of her new baby sister, which had a hugely positive impact on her. As she bonded with her baby sister there was a marked improvement in her health, enabling her to undergo a third open-heart surgery just after her seventh birthday.

Merapi is now on daily medications and constant oxygen, but despite her challenges, she always greats us with a huge smile and a sparkle in her big blue eyes.  

Merapi’s mum Paula says “@Heart has taken the pressure off me financially, practically, and emotionally. Their approach of caring for my whole family has made all the difference. I can’t say enough about @Heart, especially Nana Marie and Kate who help us at the hospital. It’s good to be able to talk to someone who understands what we are going through.”

We meet kids and families like Merapi and the Uangakores every day.  It’s what we do. But we can’t do it alone.  The support you show for us is vital, and it helps us to touch the lives of so many New Zealand families living a child with a heart defect.

In Merapi’s words: Thanks so much for the extra love and support xxoo.