Joe is helping to raise funds for urgently needed Starship PICU beds. Will you have a virtual coffee and muffin with us?

I asked Joe to write this story...but he says he can't remember anything. I'm so relieved. All he knows is that he has a gnarly 'zipper' scar down the middle of his chest. We are the lucky ones.

Against a backdrop of highly specialised medical equipment, beeping monitors and pumping ventilators there was a special team of highly skilled professionals who acted with incredible kindness and compassion, saving lives just something they did, every day.

Joe was born with a complex congenital heart defect (post-natal diagnosis), called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) in which the the pulmonary artery and aorta were transposed, leaving his body and brain starved of oxygen. After two ‘touch and go’ life flights from the West Coast he arrived at Starship Children’s Hospital, 17 hours after birth and immediately underwent an atrial septostomy to save his life, followed by open heart surgery at 7 days old. We were told there was a high chance of him being brain damaged due to a lack of oxygen but today he is a healthy, thriving, intelligent 10 year old.

Starship hospital is currently in dire need of more paediatric intensive care beds. We thought we could help in some small way.

Starship’s PICU is New Zealand’s only dedicated Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Each year, around 1200 of New Zealand's most critically ill and injured children are treated there. Right now, it is at critical capacity every 48 hours.

Thanks so much for helping Joe to help Starship by paying for a virtual coffee and muffin with us.

Someone you love may need Starship in the future.

x Hannah & Joe