Boys gear up for big heart ride
By SARAH CODDINGTON - North Shore Times
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At less than a week old North Shore boys Kaleb Boyce and Matthew Blackwell underwent major heart surgery.
Matthew's mother Liz says having her new baby go into surgery and not knowing if he would pull through is the hardest thing she's ever faced.
"He was grey because his heart couldn't pump blood around his body," says the Takapuna resident.
Matthew was the second baby in New Zealand to have an operation where donated pig, cow and human tissue was placed around his heart.
On Saturday both boys will be competing in the Wattyl Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 5km Heart Ride to raise funds for Heart Children.
At four years old this is Matthew's first race and he has raised about $6000 to go towards the charity that has helped him so much in the past.
This is the second time Kaleb has entered.
Last year the 10-year-old raised $1600 for the charity.
When his mum Suzanne was pregnant the doctors discovered her baby had a heart condition.
The family lived in the South Island but moved to Glenfield so Kaleb could have an operation at birth.
"We were very lucky. Most parents don't know their baby has a heart condition until they are born," says Mrs Boyce, who is secretary for Heart Children Auckland.
Both boys will have ongoing heart check-ups for most of their life.
Kaleb has had further surgery on his heart and will have other operations in the future because his heart's donated tissue does not grow with him.
Heart Children New Zealand is the official charity of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge.
Almost 100 children affected by a heart condition, aged four to 12 years old, take on the personal challenge to ride the last 5km of the 160km course.
Every year 600 children in New Zealand are born with a heart defect.
It is the most serious birth abnormality affecting children in the country and is the leading cause of death in youngsters.
