My Handmade Heart

As part of our Handmade Hearts series, LHM's young members talk about life with half a heart. To learn more about Handmade Hearts, click here.

Dillon (10, HLHS) talks about his journey with half a heart, and what he'd like to do when he grows up. 

"I sometimes get very frustrated with my heart condition, especially when it stops me doing things and it makes me tired. I get annoyed with having to have blood tests and people asking about my scars. But mostly I’m OK with having a special heart.

When I grow up as a job I would either like to be a Ski Instructor – because I enjoy Skiing and I’m really good at it, or a designer for Lego so I can invent new Lego sets and spend my days building Lego. I would also like to be an actor and would love to star in a Star Wars movie."

Click here to read it in full.

You can help LHM to continue supporting children and young adults with half a heart this October by making your very own #handmadehearts. For more info on how to get involved click here. Make, Bake, Sew and Sell for children with Handmade Hearts. To donate to LHM please text MADE14 followed by a £ and the amount to 70070.

The Ups and Downs of Living with Half a Heart

As part of our Handmade Hearts series, LHM’s young members talk about life with half a heart. To learn more about Handmade Hearts, click here. 

Carys (18, DILV) describes the ups and downs of growing up with half a heart, her aspirations for the future and how LHM has helped her on her journey.

"I was born in 1996 with Double Inlet Left Ventricle, Hypoplastic right ventricle, hypoplastic aortic arch and Transposition of the Great Arteries. At four days old I had my first of four open heart surgical procedures at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where I received care until I was 16. This was when Surgeon Mr Bill Braun crafted my ‘handmade’ heart. 

My first three operations were as planned – my Fontan circulation was completed in 2001 and I was lucky that all of my first three ops went well and I recovered pretty quickly.  However, at age eight I went into hospital for a cardiac catheter for a partial fenestration closure, only for Dr Wright to find a large blood clot in my pulmonary artery.  A two night stay turned into over two weeks and full-blown open heart surgery.  I wasn’t impressed – although skating up and down the ward on my drip stand a few days post-op nearly made up for it. Looking back I was so lucky that the catheter happened when it did – if that clot had broken up it could all have been very different!"

Click here to read it in full.

Feel Good Friday

A special Feel Good Friday today as one of our young members, Andrew (18, HLHS) has written a brilliant blog post for LHM about what it's like having half a heart. (As part of our Handmade Hearts series, LHM’s young members talk about life with half a heart. To learn more about Handmade Hearts, click here.)

"If there’s one thing that frustrates me about having a handmade heart, above the tiredness, above the fact that I can’t keep up in sports and above all the guinea pig stuff, is when I look at people who have a regular heart and I see them wasting their life away. Life is so short, and whether you have a handmade heart or not, live your life! Don’t waste your time worrying about what people may think or say about you, because every second spent worrying, is time that you can never get back."

Click here to read it in full.