Charlie’s little brother, Oliver, was born with a defect in his heart. At school, Charlie was asked to think of something to present at his upcoming Science Fayre.
Charlie wanted to teach his classmates about congenital heart disease as well as raising awareness of CHSF who have supported his family…
We’ll let Charlie tell you a bit more about his project…
“My name is Charlie and I’m 9 years old. My primary school in Halifax recently hosted a science fayre.”
“For the project you could chose to answer a question, solve a problem, or do a research project.”
“I chose to answer the question ‘What is a congenital heart defect?’. I picked this because my little brother, Oliver, was born with a congenital heart defect.”
“During the time my brother was in hospital for open heart surgery, I was able to stay with mum and dad in accommodation just next to the hospital.”
“I even had my birthday while we were staying there and they made it special for me. We were able to stay there thanks to Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.”
Charlie’s brother Oliver was born with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot
“The charity also helped fund some of the machines that helped save my brother’s life. After his surgery, CHSF gave my brother a very special bear called ‘Katie Bear’ along with a certificate and a medal, which my brother loves.”
“So as part of my project I put information about Children’s Heart Surgery Fund on it and QR codes for people to learn more about the charity. I made a pumping heart model and had an interactive t-shirt that uses an app to see how our organs work.”
Mum, Emily said:
“Oliver is now three years old and was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot prenatally. He first had two stent procedures and then he had full open heart surgery at four months old.”
“Oliver has other medical issues, but his heart is clinically stable and now he just receives six-monthly check-ups.”
“We will be forever grateful to the cardiac team at Leeds and Children’s Heart Surgery Fund for the amazing work they do and the support they give.”
We would like to say a huge thank you to Charlie for raising such fantastic awareness of congenital heart disease and promoting the work of our charity. You’re awesome – well done!
P.S. You might recognise baby Oliver. His photo is used on our donate page…
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