TV3 presenter Lucy Kennedy has called on the public to help keep tiny hearts beating this Christmas.
CMRF Crumlin, the foundation supporting Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin (OLCHC) and the National Children’s Research Centre, launched its Tiny Hearts Christmas Appeal last week with support from new charity ambassador Lucy.
Together they are calling on the public to help enable life-saving care for sick children this Christmas by funding new Echo machines for the hospital’s cardiac unit.
Every year over 140,000 children pass through OLCHC, many in need of life-saving intervention. The dedicated teams at the hospital work tirelessly to save tiny hearts and many other tiny organs not just at Christmas but all year around.
Between 500-600 infants who are born across Ireland annually with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) and they are all treated at OLCHC, the national centre for cardiac surgery and cardiac catheterisation in children.
And 40 per cent of all heart surgery performed within the hospital relates to urgent operations for infants less than six-weeks-old.
The hospital, which marked its 60th anniversary this month, has prolonged the lives of thousands of children over the past 60 years by detecting chronic heart defects in time and treating them with vital expertise and care.
However, CMRF Crumlin urgently requires the support of the public to fund cutting-edge cardiac equipment including essential Echo machines to ensure its cardiac doctors can continue giving babies with potentially fatal heart defects the best chance possible of recovery for years to come.
Lucy said she was delighted to be asked to become a CMRF Crumlin ambassador.
“And I’m glad to be in the hospital today to help launch this extremely important and moving campaign to help keep tiny hearts beating over Christmas and long into the future,” she added.
Lisa-Nicole Dunne, new Chief Executive at CMRF Crumlin added: “We are grateful to Lucy for joining us as a CMRF ambassador and for supporting one of our most important and urgent appeals this year.
“Funding vital Echo machines for the hospital’s cardiac unit is an absolute necessity for us.
“Donating to support the purchase of vital equipment and paediatric research that will have long lasting impact for children’s health isn’t a gift for Christmas, but a gift of life.”