Olly is 9 years old and he had open heart surgery at the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit in March 2023.
Since returning home he decided he wanted to do something to support Children’s Heart Surgery Fund. Olly loves golf and decided and would challenge himself to playing 48-holes in one day, aptly named ‘Holes Fore Hearts’.
Olly’s mum, Helen, told us a bit more about Olly’s journey…
“On 4th February this year, Olly was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties. He didn’t come home for 48 days.
“Many of those days were spent in an induced coma, on a ventilator in Leeds Children’s Hospital PICU (Paediatric Intensive Care Unit)
“Olly was suffering from heart failure.
“A defective mitral valve, likely congenital, meant he needed open heart surgery to fit a mechanical replacement valve.
“The surgeon in Leeds performed this procedure just under a month after Olly was admitted, on 1st March.
Olly sharing his #ScarSelfie in June this year, after havingopen heart surgery just 3 months before.
“Following his operation Olly’s condition improved. However, the 3 weeks spent in PICU before surgery meant his muscle mass was significantly depleted and he had become dependent on the sedatives required when he was ventilated.
“This meant a long weaning plan and lengthy rehabilitation post-surgery – check out this video of Olly taking steps on the heart ward.
“[Children’s Heart Surgery Fund] made our lives so much easier and helped us to feel hugely supported”
Olly started his challenge at 5:15am and golfed for 12 hours to raise funds for CHSF!
“Having always been an active child that showed no signs of any issues, the speed at which Olly deteriorated was a huge shock to us all.
The impact on his brother Robert (who effectively became a single child overnight) was also very significant.
“There were some bumps and scares along the way, but we felt truly blessed to have such an incredible community supporting us throughout the seven weeks that Olly was in hospital, and beyond.
“In terms of CHSF – the things we’d call out as being brilliant were that we received lots of information about Olly’s condition – the procedure, the treatment and living with the condition post-surgery.
“The INR machine that we were given, funded by CHSF, meaning Olly can live a normal life without regular hospital trips to check his blood.
“Additionally, the equipment used to detect Olly’s mitral valve issue was funded by CHSF. This meant he was able to be diagnosed and monitored closely, to get the timing of his surgery right.
“So many amazing things are funded by the charity. All the way through to some meal vouchers for the hospital restaurant to make sure I ate, which really was hugely appreciated! And the business cards for all the various support we might need.
“You made our lives so much easier and helped us to feel hugely supported, with access to the right individuals should we need it, and lifesaving equipment too.”
As a way of giving back to the heart unit that saved his life, Olly chose to use something he loved to help raise money for CHSF. As well as golfing all day on 14th July, he also held a raffle and even got his local community involved in the fundraising!
St Peter’s Church in Addingham held a Family Fun Day and asked for donations towards Olly’s fundraising page.
A big thank you to Bracken Ghyll Golf Course and Adam Cattell, who taught Olly to play golf at the club, who very kindly offered to caddie on the day.
Community Fundraiser, Lauren said:
“We were overwhelmed to see Olly’s final amount raised. It is so inspiring when we have our very own heart warriors taking on a challenge to raise funds, helping to support other children just like them.
We hope Olly’s challenge might inspire other children to take on their own challenges in the future.”
Olly’s ’48 Holes Fore Hearts’ challenge raised a phenomenal £6,959.98 for CHSF, with Olly completing this feat just 4 months after having open heart surgery. Simply incredible.
Well done Olly and thank you so much!
Feeling inspired? See how you can raise vital funds for our heart unit, patients and families.
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