Thanks for visiting my papa's fundraising page.

My name is Luca and I'm nearly 3 years old. I was born with a CHD (Congenital Heart Defect). I had 3 holes, one in the atrium and two in the ventricles. When I was 2 months old I had Pulmonary Artery Banding (this is a band that they put on my pulmonary artery to restrict the amount of oxygented blood that went to my lungs). Unfortunately the band wasn't tight enough, so when I was 5 months old I had to have open heart surgery, to patch up my broken heart. A bypass machine kept me alive during surgery. Because of my broken heart I was unable to feed, it was very tiring for me and I used to sweat and get all breathless, so I was tube fed for the first 15 months of my life. My mama turned to Heartline for support. When I had my PA banding at Great Ormond Street a lovely lady from Heartline came and gave me a teddy bear, mama and papa were given information about CHD's and support groups. They have helped my mama through it all, from questions relating to my heart, to feeding issues, to how to cope with me when I had a cold or virus. Life is not so simple for a child born with a CHD, a regular cold can amount to so much more. I'm very lucky though, I've just had a check-up and my heart is now 'perfect' and I don't have to be seen for another 2 years! But many other children will have ongoing heart problems, many first time parents will have a child born with a CHD and don't have anywhere to turn. Heartline is there for them.

My papa is doing a very brave thing and jumping out of an aeroplane!!!! I hope he's careful!!! Please donate to this charity so they can continue their amazing work and help other parents, like mine. Thank you.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Heart Line Association gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!