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Support this young family after Sean suffers cardiac arrest

  • An update from Sean and Amy-Rose

      2 June 2024

    Towards the end of last year, Sean’s health began to decline rapidly and just two weeks before Christmas we were hit with the devastating news that Sean had developed chronic heart failure and was given 1-2 years left to live. Sean’s cardiologist recommended that a heart transplant would be his best chance at a better quality of life and to be around to watch our young family grow

    Since then, Sean has undertaken many medical tests to ensure a transplant would be suitable and he was then accepted onto the NZ heart transplant active wait list. After months of waiting and lengthy stays in hospital, Sean recently received the news that a donor heart had been offered. This news is bittersweet, as we have been longing for a viable donor but also very sorry knowing that another family is hurting so much. Words can never express the gratitude we feel to the family for giving the gift of life to another, when you have lost so much. ❤️

    Sean’s recent operation went well, he is recovering in hospital and we see improvements daily. He has a very long journey ahead, including a lot of rehab to get him up and moving again. We are very thankful to the team involved in his expert care and also to everyone else who has passed on their well wishes. Thank you all so much ❤️

    Sean has donated the valves from his old heart to those in need, which I believe are often used in children. Please, if you haven’t considered organ donation in the past, I urge you to explore the possibilities ❤️

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  • A message from Sean and Amy-Rose

      6 July 2023

    Thank you so much for all the kind messages and support that we have received over the past 3 weeks. It has been quite overwhelming to know that so many have been so generous with their time, meals and offerings and are thinking of us at this hard time.

    Sean has had an operation to fit a CRT-D in his chest with 3 wires that run into his heart. A CRT-D is an implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) defibrillator for patients with heart failure. The device monitors the heart's rhythm, detects irregularities and dangerous rhythms and corrects them with electrical impulses or a shock of energy which can re-set Sean’s heart in a cardiac event. His heart was only working at 20% with the left and right chambers not beating in sync. He is now on heart medication to help with this and slow it down, so it works more efficiently.

    Sean is now at home, recovering from the operation well and adjusting to his new life with Amy-Rose as his Uber driver – well, at least until our son is born – 7 weeks to go! Sean is staying positive and waiting on a heart MRI which should tell us more as to why this possibly happened in the next few weeks and give us more insight as to what we are actually dealing with.

    Thank you again for all the love, our family is forever grateful to you all xxx

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