Every child in hospital is a childhood on hold. You can change the future for sick kids.
When you think about childhood, you picture first steps, birthday parties, and playing with siblings. But for many families those moments are put on hold as their child fights for their life in hospital.
Three-year-old Zayn knows this reality all too well.
At just six weeks old, Zayn underwent surgery at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW), after doctors discovered a rare and life-threatening liver condition.
What followed was a long and uncertain journey – one that would see him spend more than 500 days in hospital, much of it in intensive care.
Zayn underwent a life-saving liver transplant, but complications meant his fight was far from over. His kidneys began to fail, his heart struggled, and at one point, his family were called in to say goodbye. But Zayn kept fighting.
After months of life support and a subsequent kidney transplant, Zayn was finally well enough to go home.
Today, he’s doing what every child should be able to do – running around, playing with his siblings, and causing a bit of chaos.
But the reality is, children like Zayn never get back the time they’ve lost.
That’s why this tax time; SCHF is asking the community to come together to support the Sydney Sick Kids Appeal.
Your donation could help fund world-class research and innovation across the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network – work that is focused on reducing hospital stays, improving survival rates, and finding new ways to treat and cure serious childhood illness.
Breakthroughs in areas like transplantation and gene therapy have the potential to transform outcomes for children like Zayn – helping them spend less time in hospital and more time being kids.
This tax time, you can change the future for sick kids.
Make a tax-deductible donation today at schf.org.au