Hi! Our names are Shannon Gawtry and Kiera Mitchell. We are just two ordinary teenagers from The Steel City willing to raise a substantial amount of money for the Children's Heart Surgery Trust located at Leeds General Infirmary, this charity funds equipment, staff, and research as well as support for families dealing with children with CHD (congenital heart disease). We were inspired to start fundraising by Kiera's 10-year-old sister, Caitlin.

Caitlin's Story

Caitlin's symptoms started off as with most illnesses children suffer from; a high temperature, aches and pains, general grogginess. After two doctors appointments, GP's could not figure out what was causing Caitlin to feel ill and so she was referred to the Sheffield Children's Hospital but was sent back home after doctors said they did not want to run any further tests at this point. However, a few days later Caitlin returned the hospital shaking with the pain.

After being kept in hospital for another two days, Caitlin was diagnosed with endocarditis; an rare infection of the inner layer of the heart. She was then transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where it was found that the infection had weakened her left and right valves and caused a hole in her heart. Luckily, surgeons managed to repair the valves and the hole through open heart surgery without complication and Caitlin was placed on antibiotics and is now on the road for a full recovery . :)

Children's Heart Surgery Fund aids families in situation's like this one; most patients are born with CHD but in many cases, such as Caitlin's, the child was previously healthy and had no conditions beforehand, it was simply a case of bad luck. Without the charity's support, Caitlin and many others may have not recovered from the ordeal and so it is our mission to ensure this charity has the funding to support young CHD sufferers and their families for many years to come :)