Meet our Ambassadors

We would like to introduce our 2008 Banking on our Kids ambassadors, who represent the millions of sick kids helped by Children’s Hospital Foundations Australia every year. 

By supporting Banking on our Kids, you are helping sick and injured children like them right across the country.

AFL player Luke Power is a great supporter of Banking on our Kids. Read Luke's statement (PDF 529kb).

Jessica

Toowoomba, Queensland

8 years old

Meet Jessica

You might remember Jessica from last year’s appeal as she desperately waited for a liver transplant to save her life.

At 15 months old, Jess was diagnosed with anti-immune hepatitis which caused numerous complications and meant she has spent nearly as much time in hospital as out during the past seven years.
 
Early this year the happy news finally came. A liver was available and Jess was rushed to the CHFA partner hospital, the Royal Children's Hospital, in Brisbane.

The change in Jess since her transplant has been wonderful and she is able to eat by herself again for the first time in two years.

Charlee

 New South Wales

1 year old

Meet Charlee

One-year-old Charlee has been a patient at the CHFA partner hospital, the Sydney Children's Hospital, for almost all of her short life.
 
Charlee was born with multiple health conditions affecting her heart and airways. At only nine weeks old she underwent the first operation on her heart.

She has also been through a course of steroids, chemotherapy and laser surgery to shrink a tumour and stop it growing.

Luke

Melbourne, Victoria

Meet Luke

Five years ago, a series of medical tests revealed Luke’s aorta was blocked. He was admitted to hospital for an operation to balloon open his aorta.

When Luke started his teenage growth spurt he returned to hospital for the relatively minor operation to balloon open his aorta again. But he experienced difficulty with the surgery, suffering a stroke and temporary paralysis down one side of his body.

More information about Luke 

Amy

Western Australia

12 years old

Meet Amy

When 12-year-old Amy was asked which three words describe her best, she replied “strong, amazing and miracle.” This description couldn’t be closer to the truth. What she has been through defies belief and defines the true meaning of courage.

Amy suffers from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an auto-immune disease that literally causes her body to attack itself. Up until the end of 2006 she had managed to live a relatively normal life.
 
When Amy’s condition worsened, she was admitted to ICU for six weeks where she was constantly in and out of a coma. As a result, Amy lost circulation to her limbs, which could not be saved.

Zahli

Queensland

3 years old

Meet Zahli

At one month old, Zahli's Mum knew something wasn’t quite right with her third child and her instinct was right. Not long after doctors diagnosed Zahli with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Her parents were devastated and had to come to terms with the fact that there was no cure.

However, after the initial daily treatment in hospital, Zahli has managed to stay out of hospital for most of her three years.  

More information about Zahli  

Dylan

Queensland

Meet Dylan

Dylan was born six weeks premature and although healthy at first, he caught a bacterial meningitis infection when he was just one week old.
 
Dylan was immediately flown to the CHFA partner hospital in Brisbane where he spent the next 12 weeks.
 
Little Dylan also developed hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain), which meant he had to have a shunt put into his brain to drain the fluid away. This will stay there for life.