Shine for Shani
Football Marathon 2022
Fundraising for Shine for Shani
Story
A marathon day of football
Come and join us for 12 hours of fun and football at Watford PowerLeague! Everyone's welcome: kids and adults alike - we might even have some walking football!
It promises to be a great day but the main driver is to raise money in memory of our wonderful daughter Shani who died in 2017 whilst she was still just 5.
Shani's Story
Shani was born with a complex congenital heart defect - a large hole in her heart and no valve linking her heart to her lungs. Amazing surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital implanted a tiny Gore-Tex tube into her heart where the valve should have been. Then, at 20 months Shani suffered from heart failure and we were told she would not recover. Yet, remarkably, over the next four years, Shani grew into a lively little girl, with a "magic heart". She went to school, made friends and was a happy, inspiring and joyful child. However, at aged five, her oxygen levels depleted further, and the doctors decided to operate - tragically, Shani did not survive the complex operation.
Shine For Shani
The Shine For Shani charity helps to make Shani's memory into a blessing and to raise money to help Great Ormond Street Hospital and other centres of excellence in paediatric cardiology and research help other heart children live full and happy lives. The money we are raising will go towards £85,000 to buy a brand new ECMO machine (heart and lung bypass) for the GOSH paediatric intensive care unit, which will make a massive difference to the life chances of some very unwell children.