Dominic

He was born with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare congenital heart defect in which the left ventricle of the heart is severely underdeveloped, as well as other heart defects. He also has floppy airway syndrome (weakness of the windpipe) which causes breathing difficulties. As a result he underwent multiple heart surgeries in his first year of life and battled many lung infections. In 2008, he suffered a stroke and while recovering from this he started having myoclonic seizures which he has to this day. Over the years he and his family have spent a lot of time at the children’s hospital.

Despite such a challenging start to life, Dominic is progressing well and his family maintains a positive outlook.

Dominic’s mum Suzy says: “After seven years we have lost count of how many operations and trips to emergency we’ve had, but we just focus on the future, as does Dominic. He is always laughing or singing, and passionate about playing soccer and supporting the Roar, he used to do Karate and tennis but he now just does one sport at a time! When he grows up he wants to be a Clown Doctor to heal people with laughter. Words can’t describe how thankful we are for all the doctors and other health professionals who helped Dom over the years.”