Three year old Dustin Dunbar was born with a hole in his heart that required surgery almost immediately.

Dustin’s mum Melissa said his diagnosis was a shock, and the first months of his life were filled with worry and sleepless nights.

“When he was born, they noticed a heart murmur so we went to see a cardiologist in Sydney where Dustin was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, which means he had a large hole in his heart that wouldn’t close on its own and a valve that needed widening, so he had open heart surgery at 4 months of age,” she said.

“We’re extremely lucky it went well and he was in good spirits, but others aren’t so fortunate.”

The Dunbar family has joined forces with HeartKids this year, a charity organisation that supports kids and their families with heart disease, and researches the condition. 

Dustin took his efforts to the classroom at Wagga Early Years Learning Centre in Glenfield where his fellow classmates dressed in blue yesterday and donated a gold coin to the HeartKids foundation. 

“It’s very important to raise awareness, people are only aware if it’s affected them directly so it’s good to know about it and it’s a big thing, 8 babies are born with heart disease every day in Australia – it isn’t rare,” Mrs Dunbar said. 

“This year we signed up with HeartKids’ campaign, so we have a fundraising page, I held a morning tea at work which was great, and the daycare have done Blue Day.

“There’s also going to be a disco for primary school kids where the door entry fee is donated to HeartKids.”

Mrs Dunbar said Dustin is slowly learning about his condition as he gets older.

“He’s pretty excited about having his classmates involved and recently has become more aware of the scar on his chest, and we talk about how he got better and those sorts of things,” she said. 

The devoted mum said HeartKids has helped her family so much throughout their journey, and urges everyone to get on board with donating and raising awareness.

“When Dustin went on to the second ward after his surgery, he got a care package with a singlet and blanket from HeartKids to show they’re thinking of us and there’s support out there,” she said.

“It’s free support for kids and families, and they are so valuable to our community and Australia-wide.”

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