Star Weekly is looking back at some of the best stories from 2023, this is one of them.
July 19
Setbacks, challenges and tragedies are just part of life, but given what Werribee four-year old Josh Chalmers has already endured, overcoming any future problems will be a cinch .
Born with with only half a heart thanks to a condition called Hypoplastic left-heart syndrome where that side of the organ doesn’t develop, Josh had his first open heart surgery at just 17 hours old, his second at three months and spent his first 100 days in the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“I felt like I’d been run over by a truck,” recalled his mother Sharon Chalmers of when she and husband David were given the news when she was 23 weeks pregnant.
“A week prior they’d told us something was wrong.
“I wasn’t ever outwardly emotional but I just broke down.
“At the official diagnosis, I was just numb and quiet, trying to process it.“
Ms Chalmers who was then asked by doctors what she and her husband wanted to do next.
“They gave us three options: termination, palliative care, which meant go through the pregnancy and lose him in a couple of days, or a surgery pathway.”
The Chalmers chose the latter and after his initial stay at the Royal Children’s, it’s allowed Josh grow into a normal little boy who loves tearing around the playground at kinder with his friends.
But as father David explained, looks can be deceiving.
“He can’t run for very long, he gets very short of breath,” Mr Chalmers said.
“He has very low oxygen levels which causes a purple tinge to his cheeks.”
To fix this, Josh will soon return to the surgery pathway for what’s called a ‘Fontan procedure’ or as his parents put it: ‘basically a re-plumbing of the heart.’
This surgery will again be done at the Royal Children’s and it was for the same hospital that Josh, his parents and other supporters attended the slab-pouring for the Good Friday Appeal fundraising house in Tarneit on Friday.
The four-bedroom, double-storey house will be built by Henley Homes on a block donated by Villawood Properties and once completed, will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Since its inception in 1993, the GFA House Auction has raised almost $20 million.
Mrs Chalmers said that she and her husband were eternally grateful to both the hospital and everyone who has raised money for it.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported the Good Friday Appeal and the Royal Children’s Hospital in any way.
We appreciate you more than you will ever know.”
Details: gfacharityhouse.com.au
