Baby Royal-Hunter underwent heart surgery this week. Photo / Supplied
Baby Royal-Hunter underwent heart surgery this week. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua baby Royal-Hunter Lemalie-Lewis has beautiful brown eyes, a head full of curls and a smile a mile wide.
According to his mum June Wildermott, you would be forgiven for registering surprise after learning the almost 8-month-old toddler had spent six months of his young life in hospital.
Royal isa heart baby and this week is Heart Kids Awareness Week.
Wildermott and her partner TJ Lemalie-Lewis found out Royal was a heart baby six months into her pregnancy. They believe it to be a hereditary condition as one of Royal's first cousins were also born with similar problems.
The Rotorua family has endured three heart surgeries in the first 8 months of Baby Royal-Hunter's life. Photo / Supplied
"Royal had his first surgery at three days, a second at five months and this week's surgery at Starship was his third," Wildermott said. "I don't want to jinx things but, if all goes well, there's hopefully only one more procedure he will have to have."
She said waiting for the post-operative phone call to say everything had gone well was one of the hardest things ever. "If it wasn't for the support of TJ and family I'm not sure I would cope.
"Royal is an absolute trooper too. He is always happy, he loves his food and he loves company – to look at him you'd never know he was a heart baby – unless he didn't have a top on."
Both Wildermott and her partner had to give up work once Royal was born and she admits things have been tough.
"When we brought baby up to Auckland about a month ago a car crashed into us and our vehicle was written off. It was gut-wrenching as our insurance policy had lapsed as we were struggling to make the payments.
"We're trying to get the other person to accept responsibility but we've been getting the run-around and, in all honestly, all our focus has been on baby and this latest surgery."
Wildermott said Heart Kids had given the family a huge amount of support since Royal's birth and it was a great feeling to know they were in the background and ready to offer help when needed.
Baby Royal-Hunter underwent heart surgery this week. Photo / Supplied
"All the Heart Kids staff here in Auckland know Royal, we often take him to see them."
Heart Kids is a not-for-profit organisation that provides support services to kids, teens, adults living with a childhood heart condition and their families. It has more than 8000 members and is growing by 15 per cent each year.
Heart Kids does not receive Government funding for the services it provides, including information, education, training, counselling and psycho-social support, specialist equipment, camps, family matching, social affiliation and financial assistance, and relies on the generosity of the New Zealand public to survive.
Tomorrow and Saturday volunteers will be out and about in Rotorua collecting for Heart Kids.
Heart conditions •Every week, 12 babies are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) in New Zealand, affecting an additional 600 families a year. •A CHD is the most common serious birth abnormality in New Zealand. There is neither prevention nor cure for a CHD. •Every year, 1000 children will visit Auckland's Paediatric Heart Unit for treatment. •Every year in New Zealand, more than 600 major heart surgeries are performed on children or babies (sometimes in their first few hours of life). For many this won't be their last and they will continue to face the day-to-day challenges associated with their heart condition. •Annually more than 50 heart kids will lose their battle and become heart angels. •CHD is the number one cause of death for infants and newborns in New Zealand.
