Slime Sisters Waimea Crowley (left) and Emma Webby, both 11, are collecting funds for the Heart Foundation's Big Heart Appeal this weekend. Photo / Neil Smith, Chocolate Dog Studios
Slime Sisters Waimea Crowley (left) and Emma Webby, both 11, are collecting funds for the Heart Foundation's Big Heart Appeal this weekend. Photo / Neil Smith, Chocolate Dog Studios
Emma Webby has had more than her fair share of heart scares.
Dad Chris Webby, 53, had a heart attack in 2017, while her brother nearly died as a newborn thanks to a heart defect.
Emma was at the supermarket last year with mum Brony when her dad called.
"I could tell straight away that he didn't sound right and he just wanted Mum – then we got home and there was an ambulance," Emma said.
"I was really worried," she said. "I was asking myself what was going on and then a guy said, 'Oh I think this might be a heart attack, we'll have to get the chopper in,' and I just started crying."
Emma didn't get to see her dad before he was choppered to Nelson Hospital where he had a stent inserted to clear an arterial blockage.
"I saw him the next day. I was expecting him to be sleeping. He was awake but he looked really grey, tired and sad," Emma said. "It wasn't until about a month later that he started looking better. It made me feel angry."
Emma's older brother Jacob was rushed to Starship at four weeks old, struggling to breathe.
"When they opened him up for surgery his heart had become very wooden and really thick," Brony, 48, said.
"When they tried to take him off life support after the operation, his heart refused to start. He was on life support for two weeks. They told us they didn't know if he was going to make it. It was pretty scary."
Jacob, 14, has attended many hospital appointments and is doing well. Chris, though, was lucky to survive - heart disease kills more than 6000 Kiwis each year.
There's also been a recent spike in people living with heart disease, medical director Gerry Devlin said.
The 2016-17 New Zealand Health Survey found 186,000 people had heart disease, up from 172,000 the previous year.
It is common to see people with significant heart problems in their forties or even younger, Devlin said.
Now Emma has found a practical way to help. She and her mate Waimea Cowley started making slime, the goo made of borax and PVA glue. Orders from classmates at Lower Moutere School netted them $140 in profit. Every cent went to the Heart Foundation.
Emma with mum Brony, 48, who will be out collecting for the Big Heart Appeal on the streets of Motueka on Saturday. Photo / Neil Smith, Chocolate Dog Studios
But the "Slime Sisters", as they're known, want to do more. That's why this Saturday they and Brony will be out collecting on the street for the Heart Foundation's Big Heart Appeal.
Funds raised go to research and cardiologist training - which Emma hopes will help people like her dad and brother.
