A YOUNG Killinchy girl is featuring in a major new awareness campaign being spearheaded by the Children’s Heartbeat Trust.
Two year-old Poppy Agnew — who has already undergone open heart surgery — is one of seven children featuring in a new national billboard campaign to raise awareness of congenital heart disease and the work of the Children’s Heartbeat Trust.
When Poppy was born, a heart murmur was detected and after a series of scans at 15 weeks old she was diagnosed with pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect and MCTCAS. Her parents, Tracy and Richard, travelled with her to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where she underwent open heart surgery.
The Killinchy girl will be appearing on billboards, bus stops, buses and social media right across Northern Ireland over the next few weeks as the “Ever been heartbroken?” campaign seeks to raise the profile of congenital heart disease, Northern Ireland’s most common birth defect and support for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust’s work across the Province.
The charity provides family support and information networks, fundraising for vital medical equipment for the Clark Clinic at the Royal Hospital and counselling services.
Heartbeat Trust chief executive, Sarah Quinlan, said every year 200 babies are born with congenital heart disease which is Northern Ireland’s most common birth defect.
She continued: “Like Poppy, these babies may have to go through serious operations as small children and learn how to live with complex heart defects. Poppy is one of the seven faces of this campaign which highlights the very real heartbreak so many children have to go through every year.
“The impact of congenital heart disease on families can be huge and we hope this awareness campaign will allow the Children’s Heartbeat Trust to continue to offer practical and emotional support to these families. We want to ensure that our work supports more children like Poppy and the other young stars of the ‘Ever been heartbroken?’ campaign.”