When heart hero OSCAR recently learned how to ride a bike, he decided he wanted to do a big bike ride to help raise funds for CHSF.
Oscar completed a fantastic 40 miles over the month of February, cycling around his local village of Kippax.
Oscar’s dad, Ken, tells us more about Oscar’s heart condition and why their family are so passionate about fundraising for Children’s Heart Surgery Fund…
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund supported us as a family when Oscar was born. He arrived at 5:30pm with undiagnosed TGA (Transposition of the Great Arteries) and after a few minutes of being here, was transported away to intensive care as he was turning blue.
The original information we got was either he had an infection or there was something wrong with his heart. We didn’t get to see him again until 10:00pm when we met and were informed by Dr Hares of his condition.
It was hard to take in and fully understand the extent of this condition, we were simply happy that the quick intervention from the nurses and midwives at LGI meant Oscar was still with us.
At nine days old Oscar was taken into theatre which lasted around eight hours. My wife and I remember walking around Leeds in what seemed like a daydream. Life was going about as normal while we waited to hear if the surgery had been successful.
When we heard he was out of theatre and stable, it was a huge relief although we were told the next 24 hours would be crucial to his recovery. It was indeed a very rocky evening and we can’t thank his surgeon enough. Miss Carin Van Doorn stayed with him until the very early hours to ensure he remained stable.
He made it through the first 24 hours and with a few bumps over the next week, started to recover well. Each day we saw a difference in him. We could see that getting home was in sight.
Now a healthy 6 year old, Oscar continues to amaze us with how much energy he has.
He still has a restriction in his arteries, but his fitness is amazing. We don’t know if Oscar will need surgery in the future but knowing the charity is there if we need it is comforting.
We have friends that have and will continue to need CHSF so ensuring they have the funds to do so is really important to us.
In our local village, there are a number of families that have been supported by Children’s Heart Surgery Fund. For us specifically, CHSF provided accommodation for us when Oscar was in hospital undergoing surgery and during his recovery.
He also came home with a Katie Bear, medal and certificate. It was this moment we started to realise what CHSF did for the hospital and for families. Although we live in Leeds, we were truly thankful of being given accommodation as it meant we could be closer to him while he was in intensive care and on high dependency in Ward L51.
We’ve noticed over the years that much more equipment for the hospital and play equipment for children has been provided by CHSF which is fantastic.
Over the years since Oscar was born, we’ve done a number of fundraisers for CHSF from online quiz nights to hosting Christmas parties.
We started by gathering donations at Oscar’s and his brother Luke’s christenings; taking part in Wear Red Days and the annual Superhero Walk.
As a group of heart families in the local area, we now get together and help each other with any ideas for fundraising. We’ve got an event that has been on hold since March 2020 and hoping as restrictions ease, we can get back to planning and running this towards the end of the year.
Our advice to anyone thinking about fundraising is find something that you are passionate about doing. Be this a bike ride, a run, an event…and turn it into a fundraiser! Get in touch with businesses in the local area and post it on local social media pages.
We were really surprised just how many people in our village got behind Oscar’s bike ride. We were unsure of whether he would reach the target he set himself but with the help of the village, he absolutely smashed it!
To CHSF – a huge thank you for the support you gave us, the support you have given to our friends and the support you provide all families with. You have been able to provide funding for some amazing equipment over the years and the little things you do make the biggest difference to families.
We want to say a huge well done to the brilliant Oscar who raised a staggering £2375 for CHSF on his 40 miles cycle last month.
You should be very proud of what you have achieved – thank you Oscar! We can only do what we do, because of awesome people like you! #BecauseofYou
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