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Eden's fundraiser for Heart Link Children's Charity

Stephanie Cochrane is raising money for HeartLink Children's Charity
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Heart Link Children's Charity was originally formed as a support group for parents and families who have a child suffering from a heart defect. Since 1981 we have collected over £6 million. This has been used to fund projects large and small. Thank you for supporting us!

Story

Eden and her twin brother Ewan were born on 17th August 2026 at the QMC, Nottingham. Unbeknown to us until she was 6 weeks old, Eden was suffering from a life threatening heart condition known as aortic coarctation. This is where the aorta, the main artery supplying blood to the body, is severely narrowed meaning that blood is unable to pump properly around the body. Without treatment this condition is fatal.

The morning of 2nd October 2026 Eden's skin turned white, she became hypothermic and her body became limp whilst on what should have been an enjoyable walk in the sunshine with her mum and brother. This was the start of her journey and us discovering the fantastic work that the Heart Link charity do.

Eden was rushed by ambulance from the QMC to the Leicester Royal Infirmary in order to receive life saving heart surgery which she had on Friday 9th October. During her stay we became aware of the fantastic work that the Heart Link charity do. Heart Link work closely with Leicester Royal Infirmary with their main aim in providing support and assistance to families of children that are unfortunate enough to end up on the cardiac wards at the hospital. They do this by helping to fund temporary accommodation in a local hotel to enable parents to be close by to their children 24/7 during their hospital stays. This costs the charity £10,000 per month and this resource was something that was invaluable to us and we're eternally grateful.

The hospital have a designated parent room on both the cardiac paediatric intensive care unit (CPICU) and the children's cardiac ward (ward 1) and most of the equipment in these rooms was funded by Heart Link. This includes fridges, freezers, microwaves and much more. Not only do they provide all of this to parents, they have also directly funded equipment such as the specialised heated bed that Eden stayed in during her stay on CPICU, the individual desk that the nursing staff used to provide Eden with her specialised care as well as lockers, wheelchairs and fans on the wards. The charity were also present two evenings per week at the Leicester Royal Infirmary to provide direct support to families that need them.

Eden was allowed home on Wednesday 14th October and whilst her recovery is still ongoing, the help that Heart Link provided not only to us but to other families that we met has been invaluable.

Please help them to continue to provide this support by donating via this just giving page <3

Donation summary

Total
£643.00
+ £102.00 Gift Aid
Online
£643.00
Offline
£0.00

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