Geelong Catenary Lights will light up in pink and blue this Valentine’s Day to raise awareness for childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD).
The lights over the Malop and Moorabool Streets intersection will be lit up from 7pm to 9pm on February 14 as part of Sweethearts for HeartKids Light Up Day.
Regional support coordinator Sherrie McDonald said the event helped raise awareness and funds for children and families dealing with CoHD.
“I have a heart-child myself, and I’ve been through the hospital system. She’s now 21, but knowing that other people are going through the same thing is reassuring,” she said.
“We have over 300 families in the Geelong area that HeartKids support… and to have someone else to connect to, whether it’s another family or HeartKids itself, it just makes it a lot easier.”
Geelong mum Kimberley Bell said her journey with HeartKids started when her daughter Willow was born at 33 weeks and six days with a heart complication.
“On the 28-week scan, doctors found that my daughter had a heart defect, and we didn’t know what was going to happen as her heart was taking up two-thirds of her abdomen at that point,” she said.
“When she was five months old, she had an arrest at home, and her heart stopped, and she wasn’t breathing. That was at about 4.30 in the morning, and it happened in front of my husband and me.
“We started CPR on her while we waited for the ambulance. She had five minutes of CPR and breaths, and then she began to breathe spontaneously by herself, and the ambulance arrived just after that.
“We didn’t know if she was going to be okay, but it was nice to have a conversation with somebody that’s been in your shoes.
“As she got bigger and stronger, she can now go to daycare, which happened last year in July. We still have challenges as she’s still compromised with her heart, but we take it all on board.”
