Huntingdonshire pre-school kids in hospital charity shoot-out
Needingworth Park Father's Day kickathon, raising money for GOSH, for Elodie Moore (3) - Credit: Archant
CHILDREN at a pre-school pulled on their football boots as they took part in a penalty shoot-out to raise money for the hospital which helped one of their friends overcome a heart defect.
Three-year-old Elodie Moore was born with a coarctation of the aorta –it meant one of the vessels in her heart was narrow as well as her pulmonary artery.
Her parents Steve and Jane Moore, from Needingworth, were told the condition affects one in 800 babies and leads to high blood pressure, causing a strain on the heart.
Mr Moore, 35, said: “We were warned before her birth that she may have the condition which is congenital, as my wife has it. We had a 50 per cent chance that she would have the condition and we were told shortly after her birth.
“At six months old Elodie had an echocardiogram in Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the results were worse than we thought. We were sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London to have an operation the next day.”
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He added: “When there, Elodie had another echo and they decided her case was too severe and couldn’t operate. But one of the surgeons took a chance and said he could do it. She was in theatre for nine hours. It was the longest nine hours of my life, walking up and down the corridors waiting.”
The surgeons were able to correct the narrow aorta but not the pulmonary artery, which should grow as Elodie does.
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“The doctors wanted Elodie to have a normal life and she’s able to,” said Mr Moore. “We don’t have to do anything different.”
The sponsored penalty shoot-out was held to mark Father’s Day and support Elodie. Her classmates at Needingworth Community Pre-school took their 10 shots on Thursday (June 13).
The total, which will be shared between GOSH and the pre-school, will be revealed at the end of the month.
