Three-year-old Jonathan had a rocky start to life, after being diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) within 24 hours of being born.
HLHS is a condition whereby the left side of Jonathan’s heart was born too small to function effectively and was unable to pump his blood around his tiny body. To alleviate his condition, Jonathan underwent two open-heart surgeries – the first of which was performed when he was only seven days old.
“Before he was taken away, we held him for what could have been the last time. It was not the beginning to his life that we had imagined. His chest remained open for three days post- operation to allow his swelling to go down, and I will never forget that sight,” remembered Jonathan’s mum, Jess.
Jonathan has since undergone two further open-heart surgeries, and his treatment is ongoing. He will require cardio appointments every few months to monitor his progress and another surgery in a few years. His family cite the Foundation’s support as invaluable during one of the most difficult periods for the family.
Due to the support that Jonathan received during his hospital journey, his family have decided to leave a gift in their Will to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Both Jonathan and his sister, Liesel, have spent time in hospital, so the family thought it was important to ensure that other families who find themselves in similar situations can be supported by the Foundation.
“As Jonathan will need at least one more open-heart surgery, we know that Children’s Hospital Foundation will be there to support us when his operation happens. The gift in our Will was easy to do when we wrote our Wills using Gathered Here, which took some of the stress out of creating this important document. It’s something we’ve encouraged our friends and family to do,” added Jess.
We’ve partnered with Gathered Here, a free and easy step-by-step online Will writing service. It can take less than 10 minutes to have an incredible impact on sick kids.
Even just 1% of your estate could be the difference kids deserve and give hope to families now and into the future.