By Eleanor Wilson
For some, Good Friday is a time for religious worship, and for others it is the start of a long weekend of indulging on chocolate and hot cross buns.
But for thousands of parents, like Narre Warren’s Tara Kviesitis, the Easter holiday has added meaning, owing to the work of the charitable Good Friday Appeal.
“I’ll never feel the same on Good Friday because its personal for me now, I understand what it’s like being on the other side,” she said.
Like many mothers of premature babies, Ms Kviesitis said she “hadn’t even organised a hospital bag” when she was rushed to the hospital to give birth at 29 weeks.
Before baby Malakai was born weighing just over one kilogram, doctors notified Ms Kviesitis that the family would have a long health journey ahead of them.
“They detected his first heart condition in the womb, which was Coarctation of the Aorta and Atrioventricular Septal Defect (AVSD),” she said.
“On day three he got really unwell and ended up on a ventilator and that’s when they detected the second heart condition.”
Diagnosed with two congenital heart defects, Malakai was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital, and at seven days old had his first of several heart operations.
Ms Kviesitis described the time as “pretty terrifying”, but said the support of the staff at the Royal Children’s Hospital was invaluable.
“Everyone there is amazing. They aren’t just about what they can do for the children, they’re there for the families too,” she said.
“When you leave the hospital, you have to trust these people to keep your child alive, and I just don’t think I understood how dedicated they are until I was on the other side experiencing it.”
Now 16 months old, Ms Kviesitis said Malakai is doing much better thanks to the work of heart surgeons at the Royal Children’s.
“He’s not on par with other children of his age, but he’s developing all the time,” she said,
“He recently got his feeding tube out which has been a huge struggle for him in the past, so he has come so far.”
“We took him out yesterday for lunch and I was able to feed him in public without the need for a tube and it was so special.”
Each year, The Good Friday Appeal raises money for research, equipment and technology, education & training and patient and family care at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
