Helping Harper - Our Little Hero

Hi everyone, my name is Carrie and I am honoured to have the opportunity to put together this fundraiser for Harper Martin - the sweetest, strongest, bravest and the most resilient little girl there is.

 

Harper alongside her mother Hsin, dad Andrew & big brother Oliver has fought the most incredible fight in her short time on earth and now she needs our support to keep her parents by her side and keep fighting.

 

Harper was born with CCTGA & VSD which is a rare form of Congenital Heart Disease. Diagnosed in utero and followed closely by McMaster Children's Hospital and SickKids Hospital for Sick Children, it was decided that Harper's best chance at living a quality life long term, was for her to undergo a surgery called the Double Switch.

On June 17th 2021, Harper had the Double Switch surgery which went very well. The surgery was 8 hours and Harper seemed to recover quite well. She was strong and ready for a fight, but sadly her heart was not as strong. Two days post-surgery, Harper began to show signs of concern and went into cardiac arrest. She was revived after 50 minutes of CPR and was quickly put on life support assistance.

 

ECMO is the acronym for the life-saving device that supports both heart and lung function needed for her to survive. At this time, her kidneys and liver had failed, and her lungs had collapsed. The incredible team in the SickKids Cardiac Critical Care Unit worked tirelessly to support this very complicated situation and allow her to slowly recover from this trauma - all while trying to solve a very difficult puzzle. The team, baffled by the sudden changes in her arrhythmia and Harper still not reacting well decided to reverse the Double Switch operation and the VSD repair remained. Harper continued on life support by ECMO for a total of 22 days. Her heart is in need of constant medical intervention and numerous other procedures like Electrophysiology studies to defibrillation.

 

After a month Harper’s heart was showing some signs of recovery, the hope was to allow her heart to adapt to some of the changes, get stronger and then they would attempt surgery again one day. After being intubated for weeks and losing a large percentage of her body weight, she had lost the ability to walk as well as her ability to speak. Harper persevered past this and through many more weeks of physio, occupational and speech therapy, Harper had regained the ability to speak. After 40+ days in critical care, Harper was transferred to rehab where she quickly excelled with speech therapy, and soon after regained her ability to walk as well. Unfortunately, Harper contacted the rhinovirus after an outbreak at the hospital which took a harder toll on her than expected and lingered for some time.

 

On September 16th, Harper was discharged and sent home with a plan to monitor regularly on her continued path to healing through medicine and potential for further surgical intervention. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad were concerned about Harper's overall well being and the very next day Harper was rushed to the hospital in Hamilton where the team stabilized her very quickly as she was in heart failure. The team did an incredible job, and Harper was quickly transferred back to Sickkids. Harper has since become ever more complex, her heart has been more than difficult to control due to complicated arrhythmia. Working now to stabilize her heart so her poor body can rest but it seems it may not be possible. They have begun the process of assessment for a heart transplant. This is not a cure, transplant is another form of heart disease that requires very serious anti-rejection medication and comes with many many risks and often major intervention and future transplants needed.

 

Harper is in the hands of one of the best pediatric cardiac programs in the world. We are very confident that her fighting spirit and patience will take her to the other side of this difficult journey. With the continued support of her family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, extended family, friends and even strangers, we can help keep her parents and brother close, to be her advocates and help keep her fighting spirit alive. Any support provided will help Andrew, Hsin and her brother stay with her in Toronto, and cover any medical and living expenses needed during this long journey ahead.

 

Andrew and Hsin, thank you from the bottom of their hearts for any help you can provide as they continue to help Harper win her biggest challenge.