Heart Racers for 'our heart baby'
For stay home mom Toni Jack, the upcoming Harbour Capital Marathon may well become a family event.
While she will be walking the half marathon with a group of friends, her 5-year-old son Alex will be running the 'Kids Magic Mile' this Sunday with husband Rob as Heart Foundation Heart Racers.
If the weather permits, Rob intends to bring along their two girls, 3-year-old Emily and 9-month-old Olivia, to help raise money for New Zealand's heart health charity.
The big family day out would have been unimaginable only three months ago, when baby Olivia had an open heart surgery in February.
Olivia was born with tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart condition. Besides having a hole in between her heart's pumping chambers, her pulmonary valves were too narrow, putting her at risk of blue baby syndrome.
"I checked up and the survival rate for babies with such a condition is low without corrective surgery," says Toni.
Following her successful heart surgery, Olivia is now recovering well.
Describing Olivia's recovery, Toni says the youngster will now lead a normal life though she may not have the stamina to keep up on strenuous physical exercises.
"So though she's unlikely to become a famous sports personality she'll be able to play like other children," says the proud Mum.
Toni is thankful to the surgeons and fellow charity Heart Children for their help and support. The trying period since finding out about Olivia's heart defect has also "brought the family together and made us appreciate our kids even more".
And by becoming a Heart Racer with Alex to raise funds for the Heart Foundation, Toni hopes to contribute to its vital work in heart health research.
She is particularly interested in the development of non-surgical techniques for repair of congenital heart defects in children. In the event that Olivia requires further treatment when she is older, such as widening the valve in her pulmonary artery, she hopes this could be done without another open heart surgery.
Meantime, another Wellington youngster is also lacing up his shoes for the Heart Racer cause.
In fact, out of love for his Grandma, 10-year-old Connor Saunders is taking his fundraising efforts very seriously.
He has been training four times a week to prepare for his first Harbour Capital 'Kids Magic Mile'.
Connor started training on his bicycle with his dad and the family dog Ami in mid April.
"My Nana has heart problems and I would really like to find a cure because it makes me sad when she can't get out of bed. She loves me a lot," says Connor.
"We have been doing a lot of running at school because we have just had our cross country, my teacher sends us for a run whenever it is fine," he adds.
On those wet days, he trains indoors on the treadmill, although he much prefers running outside. The sporty boy also does Tae Kwon Do to keep fit, despite contending with Asperger Syndrome.
"Running is good for me. When I get frustrated and confused at school, I go for a run and it makes me feel calm and I can go back to what I was doing."
On becoming a Heart Racer, Connor is adamant he just wants to have fun, get fit and thank everybody that has helped him raise money for the Heart Foundation.
