George Riki-Pennicott's Fight for Life

Hi. My name is Rebecca. I want to set up a give a little page for my sister and her family. My nephew George has been sick for approximately 6 months with flu-like symptoms. Waneta had him backwards and forwards to the GP. They were told it was the flu and asthma. It got to the point that George was struggling to breath and coughing non-stop. They ended up at A & E. There they gave George something which helped George relax and stop the coughing. Unfortunately 3 days later on Labour Day George began coughing again and was coughing up blood. Soul (his Dad) decided to take him back down to A & E. The hospital began running tests and it was discovered that George has cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease, which makes it hard for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. George ended up in CCU for two nights before being transferred to the cardiac unit in Dunedin. George and his family were up there for three weeks. George was put on medication to help his heart pump better and put on a fluid restriction to reduce the load the heart has to pump. Unfortunately this course of treatment is not as effective as the specialists were hoping for and now George has to go to Green Lane Hospital in Auckland to be assessed for a heart transplant. The family have to go to Auckland in January.

Waneta and Soul both work, and as you can understand, they have both taken time off work. This has caused a financial impact on the family. Now they face the prospect of flights backwards and forwards to Auckland, driving to Dunedin, and accommodation while in Auckland and Dunedin, and they have to keep the household running back here in Invercargill, because not all of the family can go up. So we are asking for help from family and friends. Any help would be appreciated immensely as they have a long uphill battle in front of them.

We will keep everyone updated on George’s progress. Thank-you very much for your support.