My daughter, Katharine, is an adult living with congenital heart disease. After 30 years of operations, including 2 open heart surgeries, she caught COVID at her 30th birthday celebrations in 2022 and this has compromised her heart and lungs to the point where the only option open to her is a heart and lung transplant - which has been refused.

For her whole life, Katharine has received fantastic treatment, first at the Children's Hospital and then the Oxford Heart Centre (both at the John Radcliffe Hospital) and with visits to and surgery at Great Ormond Street, Southampton General Hospital and the Churchill at Oxford. For most of her teenage and adult life until 3 years ago she has been able to lead a full and healthy life, completing a masters degree and working full time.

Since contracting covid in 2022, her life has changed beyond recognition. She is now on 24 hour oxygen and a multitude of drugs. She's physically unable to work more than 2-3 hours a day (yes, she still turns up for work every day), struggles with intense fatigue, operates constantly at oxygen saturation levels that are generally only experienced on the top of Mount Everest, has spent a large part of the past 2 1/2 years in and out of hospital and now has to deal with the physical and psychological challenges of knowing that a new heart and lungs are not an option.

Since 2015, Katharine has received part of her treatment at the Wessex Cardiac Unit, Southampton, 3 hours away from home, which makes travelling to and from hospital to visit and support her a bit of a logistical challenge, and not a little tiring! She's not the most straightforward of patients so planned hospital stays are often extended. I, and Katharine's younger sister, have been very fortunate in having been able to stay at Heartbeat House on more than one occasion.

Heartbeat House is a fantastic facility, offering accommodation to relatives of patients receiving heart treatment at the Wessex Cardiac Unit. It's just a few minutes' walk from the cardiac units, and you can come and go as you please and stay as long as you need. Having to live away from home whilst supporting a family member during an extended stay in hospital can be stressful and expensive, but Heartbeat House is a warm hug of a house which makes no demands on you and that provides an environment in which you can have a semblance of normality - freedom to cook what and when you wish, watch TV, read a book, have a bath, or whatever you need to do to maintain your sanity and to be in as good a state to support your relative as you can be. The house is funded solely by donations, and the only financial commitment requested of guests is a small non-refundable key deposit - anything else you wish to give is entirely at your own discretion. It's hard to describe how much having somewhere like Heartbeat House helps when you have a close family member undergoing treatment, often at short notice. It's not just the house itself that is so valuable, but the fact that all guests have something in common. There are no expectations of conversation, but chance encounters in the communal areas lead to interesting, supportive and, yes, sometimes incredibly hard or sad conversations. Sharing such intensely personal stories with complete strangers is incredibly cathartic. I hope you never need to experience it.

Wessex Heartbeart is much more than 'just' my own experiences of the phenomenal facility of Heartbeat House: you can read all about them here: https://www.heartbeat.co.uk/

I've set up this page as I want other parents of young adults with congenital cardiac disease to be able to benefit from Heartbeat House in the same way that I have. On occasions I will be undertaking specific fundraising activity, but when I'm not, this page will remain open to enable anyone to donate to the charity at any time.

I'd also like to invite you to visit The Leaky Valve, my daughter Katharine's Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/the.leaky.valve/), where you can see the challenges that this amazing and resilient young woman (and I'm not saying that just because she's my daughter!) faces and how she battles to get through each day, yet maintains a remarkable sense of humour. Only make sure you have some tissues to hand as you laugh and cry in equal measure!

Thank you for your generous donations in advance. I, Wessex Heartbeat, my daughter, and all the families who benefit from the sanctuary of Heartbeat House are intensely grateful to you.