Christmas cards for a good cause

Last year the sale of charity Christmas cards raised approximately $200,000 for research into children’s conditions such as cancer, epilepsy and birth defects at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

“This amount of money could be used to purchase essential equipment for investigating the cause of birth defects or to employ researchers to investigate new treatments for cancer” said Robyn Chadwick, a member of the Northern Beaches fundraising Committee of CMRI.

Three years ago Robyn’s close friends Bronwyn and Peter Andrews, who were 20 weeks into the pregnancy of their second child, were told that the baby’s heart had not formed properly.

“When the ultrasound technician went to get the doctor during our appointment we knew something was wrong. We feared the worst” said Peter.

The two lobes of the baby’s heart were swapped around preventing the flow of oxygenated blood around the body. “Babies used to die at around six months old because there was no oxygen in the blood going to the other organs of the body” said Peter.

Within just six days of being born, baby Charlie had open heart surgery to take out his heart, swap the lobes back around so they were in the right position, and put it back in place. “It’s pretty major surgery and Charlie will never be fully cured as there will be ongoing issues throughout his life” said Peter.

“Charlie is getting along very well now. He’s a normal, happy 3 year old with a very big scar down the front of his chest.” said Robyn “ It makes me very proud to be involved in the work of CMRI, who are researching the causes of conditions like Charlie’s so they may be prevented in the future.”

Throughout November the Northern Beaches Committee will be selling Christmas cards to raise money for CMRI. “We are a volunteer committee so all proceeds from the cards go towards research that could prevent other babies from being born with heart defects like Charlie’s” said Robyn.

You can purchase Christmas cards via our online shop.