As part of our Because of Carin campaign, celebrating the incredible career of Carin van Doorn, Billy’s family share their memories of her support.
Carin performed two life-saving heart surgeries on Billy – and their words show just how much her care and dedication meant to them.
Mum Charlotte said:
“Carin performed two open heart surgeries on our son Billy, the first as an emergency procedure when he was just over 2kg at four weeks old.
“I will never forget meeting her in a frantic and panicked situation as she was called in to operate on Billy. We had less than 5 minutes with Carin where she calmly explained Billy had a 50/50 chance of survival, before us having no option but to trust her with our baby.
“You may assume in these situations you won’t see the surgeon again other than for a brief follow-up, but after a 7 hour surgery (very late at night) Carin was back on PICU monitoring Billy whilst we sat by the bedside – and she returned every day, checking every part of his care.
“The second surgery, Billy was eight months old which was a complex reconstruction. Carin sat with us in our hospital room with a model of the heart, explaining in so much detail what she was planning to do. She answered all our questions and concerns. Without her, Billy simply would not be with us today.
“Carin’s care and attention for all her patients is profound, and she has dedicated her entire life to this service – performing over 200 surgeries a year across her 30 year career. She also does pro-bono work abroad annually with charities overseas, completing surgeries on children in deprived countries. There is no doubt she is leaving a legacy behind her.
“I could go on and on speaking about this remarkable woman but there is nothing I can do or say that would recognise the gratitude we have that Billy was under her care.
“It’s people like this who deserve to be recognised and remembered for their sacrifice, commitment, dedication and teaching of something that simply saves lives.
“Congratulations Carin, you deserve everything that retirement brings, and we celebrate you!”
After more than 30 years in congenital cardiac surgery and over a decade leading the team at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit (LCHU), Carin van Doorn OBE will soon be retiring.
After dedicating her life to children’s cardiac care, we want to ensure that Carin’s legacy at Leeds lives on after she retires. You can help us do just that by donating to the ‘Because of Carin’ appeal.
To find out more about the ‘Because of Carin’ fundraising appeal, click here.
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