Baby Jack and the Dwyers

Hi my name is Katie. I am a long time friend to Taryn and David Dwyer, who are currently living every parents worst nightmare. With their permission, I have decided to reach out for help on their behalf.

Taryn and David are the parents to two beautiful children. Their first born Hannah, and Jack - their seriously ill baby boy.

In just one year, Jack has had eight anaesthetics. He has already had 5 surgeries including open heart at 2 weeks old, bowel surgery and brain surgery. His challenges are complicated, detailed and very rare for his age. However, I have recorded some of the key elements to his story as best I can.

Jack was born with a condition called VACTERL association - a congenital disorder affecting his spine, bowel, heart and kidneys. He spent the first three months of his life in NICU, with two PICU admissions since (and countless stays in hospital). He has frequent appointments at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. He was also born with an AV fistula on his brain, and bowel issues. He has a large hole in his heart and went into moderate heart failure at just seven days old. Doctors are unable to fix his heart due to the life threatening risk this currently would pose to him, and Jacks cardiologist team have only seen a condition similar to Jacks once before.

Taryn and David have no family in Ballarat, and most of their friends live in Geelong. Although they are and have been incredibly strong through all of this, the situation is obviously emotionally heavy and the financial impact of travel, accomodation and medical expenses is an additional and constant burden.

As if this family haven’t been through enough, Taryn’s handbag was recently stolen. Inside this handbag were many things, but most precious to her was her engagement ring, wedding ring and an exceptionally sentimental piece of jewellery, that her beloved, forever 18 year old niece wore when she unexpectedly passed in 2020.

Taryn is a dear friend of mine. She is a dedicated nurse working in Ballarat, and is an incredibly strong, kind and selfless human being. David is a gentle and loving husband and an incredible friend.

With already many financial challenges and unimaginable uncertainty, the recent theft has completely shattered Taryn and David. Their situation is heart breaking and their stolen items are irreplaceable.

Any amount would help, big or small. More than anything, I’d love my friends to be reminded that there is kindness out there.

Thank you SO much for reading.