A superhero-themed DIY session this weekend hopes to create awareness for Heroes for Heart Kids.
Heart Kids South Canterbury family support taituara ¯ Lisa Fraser said the organisation supported children with congenital heart disease and acquired heart disease nationwide.
The organisation offered aid to families for things such as travel, meals and getting to Starship Hospital.
‘‘We are basically inviting people to support the organisation and to be a hero for a kid,’’ Mrs Fraser said.
The annual appeal was not only hoping to raise money for those families in need, but to raise awareness as well.
Mrs Fraser’s role provided support to about 140 families from Ashburton down to Oamaru.
For one of Mrs Fraser’s families, their child had become a heart kid at 8.
Amy McCauley said at the end of last year her family noticed their middle daughter Piper had a slower-than-normal heart rate.
‘‘I joined up to Heart Kids before we had even had the diagnosis, as I was seeking more information to figure out what might be wrong with my little girl,’’ Mrs McCauley said.
She said Heart Kids had made contact and kept in touch as the family went through a ‘‘slew’’ of testing and appointments to get her diagnosis.
In December, she was diagnosed with (asymptomatic and idiopathic) complete heart block.
Four months on, Piper fainted, and what the family expected to be a simple checkup at the emergency department ended with Piper being kept in hospital, and her family being told they needed to transfer her to Starship.
Mrs McCauley said after a midnight ambulance ride to Dunedin, she met up with the Heart Kids supporter in the area.
‘‘She bought us food and coffee and colouring books, and she helped to co-ordinate flights for my husband while the Starship aeroplane, with full flight crew, came and collected Piper and I and took us to Auckland.’’
Piper was kept under intense monitoring on the heart ward until she could be fitted with a pacemaker.
‘‘The Heart Kids supporters up there helped us with regular visits and the help we needed as we navigated this huge upheaval in our life.’’
Two weeks later they were back home and healing, and had since had so many offers of help and support from Heart Kids, from simple moral support to helping with food and advice whenever they needed it, she said.
‘‘They’ve been awesome through this whole thing and it’s great to know that they’ll be there for the many years ahead, as Piper will require a pacemaker for the rest of her life.’’
Mrs Fraser will be at Bunnings Timaru tomorrow and Saturday receiving donations and answering questions.
Inside the store, a DIY class for children to make pots into superheroes will be run at 10am on Saturday.
