A Belfast City Marathon 2024 relay team has been set up with staff from Business Services Organisation (BSO) to help raise money for the Children's Heartbeat Trust.

Bonnie Lewis was welcomed into the world on 18th July 23 weighing in at 5lb 6oz and spent 1 week in the neonatal ward at the Ulster hospital.

Following her 6 week check up doctors raised concerns after spotting a suspected murmur, with Bonnie then being sent to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children for further scans where it was discovered that she had a hole in her heart.

Bonnie was then diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (a congenital heart defect characterized by four specific cardiac defects) and spent 5 of her first 20 weeks in the Clarke Clinic, RVH while further tests were carried out.

After looking at results it was confirmed that Bonnie would need to travel to Dublin for heart surgery once she had put on enough weight. Without the surgery she wouldn’t survive to the end of the year. The surgery is currently booked in for the start of April 24.

The Children’s Heartbeat Trust support families who’s children are in the Clarke Clinic. For Bonnie’s parents, Mark and Hayley, they provided a huge amount of support, including a bedroom that was based within RVH that allowed a space for rest during a very difficult time .

Bonnie’s dad Mark said “This has been such a tough journey for Bonnie and our family and I would like to thank all of the Doctors and Nurses in the Ulster Neo Natal Unit and RVH Clarke Clinic, who have been fantastic at getting Bonnie to a healthy state pre-surgery.

I also cannot thank Children’s Heartbeat Trust enough for all of the support they have shown my family over the last 8 months. I now hope that we can raise some money for them as a way of saying thank you and help them continue the work they do with other families.

Finally I would like to say a big thank you to Jennifer Ferguson, Dani McEneaney, Katie Johnston and Una Doherty for signing up to the Marathon and helping to raise money for a great cause"

Children’s Heartbeat Trust is a local charity in Northern Ireland providing practical, emotional and financial support to children and young people living with congenital heart disease (CHD). We work closely with paediatric cardiology team at Clark Clinic in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children to ensure that children and their families receive the best care, treatment and support possible.

We do not receive any government funding and are reliant on voluntary donations to fund our services. Every donation is greatly appreciated.