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Ezekiel Pilimai seemed to be a happy and healthy one-year-old boy when one day everything changed. He couldn’t breathe, he turned blue and limp. He was rushed to Christchurch Hospital where the team discovered that Ezekiel’s lungs had collapsed. He was quickly transferred to Starship’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to receive specialised care.

“Starship means a lot to our family,” says mum Zoe. “Life is full of surprises and when life turns so suddenly like it did for us it made us realise how incredibly lucky we are to live in a country that has a hospital that focuses on children’s health. Without the specialised care we received we may not have our little boy with us now. So we are, and always will be, so grateful to Starship and what they do for all the families around the country that have found themselves in similar situations.”

Ezekiel is now 3.5 years old and continues to receive follow up care for his unique medical condition in Christchurch.

Baby Poppy's life hung in the balance.

At just three months old, she was having a major cardiac arrest. Poppy's mum, Estelle, remembers exactly what the doctors at her local hospital told her: Poppy's heart is not beating very well, it is not pumping the blood through her body. You have to be transported to Starship.

At Starship, Poppy was diagnosed with a chronic heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. That's when she was rushed into Starship's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Poppy stayed in PICU for a total of eight months, including her first Christmas, fighting to get well. Thankfully Poppy is now well enough that she was sent home with her loving family to Hamilton.
 

At just five days old, Xavier underwent his first of three open heart surgeries at Starship. Then, after nine weeks recovery, he headed home to Christchurch. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of little Xavier’s rocky start.

After arriving home, Xavier contracted bronchiolitis and was rushed to Christchurch Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after he stopped breathing. It was now life or death.

Starship’s National Air Ambulance was called in. When Xavier touched down at Starship, he was immediately seen by world class pediatric specialists, teamed with leading facilities – both only available at Starship and critical to Xavier’s survival. We’re delighted to share that Xavier has since recovered and settled back in at home with his family, where he’s a lively buddy to his big brothers!