Honouring a friend and making a difference for Cardiology patients
When Simon passed away suddenly in 2007 from a heart condition at just 27, his friends Alicia and Hamish Maclean decided to honour his memory by raising funds for the Cardiology department at The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Alicia and Hamish knew that Simon had spent time at the RCH as a child, so on the 1st anniversary of Simon’s death in 2008 they held the first Making A Difference ball, raising more than $10,000 to fund the purchase of a cardiac MRI coil for use with babies suffering cardiac diseases.
The initial experience inspired Alicia and Hamish to want to continue to make a difference.
“It was a lot of fun and wonderful to be able to honor Simon” Alicia said.
In July 2010 the Macleans held the second Making A Difference ball which raised an incredible $16,292.00 to fund the purchase of five Holter Monitors for the Cardiology Department.
The Macleans visited the RCH to present the monitors to Michael Cheung, the Director of Cardiology, and Alexandra Savis, the acting chief cardiac technologist.
The Holter Monitors are small and light and can be discreetly attached to a patient to enable the recording of the heart rhythm for between 24-48 hours whilst they are at home taking part in normal activity. The data captured can then be analysed by RCH doctors at a later date to help detect abnormalities in the heart rhythm.
The purchase of the new monitors has meant there are more available at any time for patients to take home, which has substantially reduced the waiting times to take part in the study. Families have also been less likely to need to make a return trip to the hospital just to have a monitor fitted.
Thank you to the Macleans and all their supporters for their continued fundraising efforts for the RCH. We truly appreciate all your hard work.
