Korbin O'Keefe

Fourteen year old Korbin O’Keefe was diagnosed with congenital heart disease when he was 12 hours old when a heart murmur was heard during a routine check.

Korbin has been on medication his entire life and has had three open heart surgeries to manage his disease. The first one when he was only 4 months old, then again when he was 3 years old followed by one at the age of 8.

Doctors have told Korbin and his family that due to the amount of damage the heart failure caused, medications or surgery will not solve the problem and a heart transplant is needed.

In January 2011, Korbin was put on the active waiting list for a heart transplant. A transplant is not a cure but will drastically improve Korbin’s quality of life and life expectancy.

In July 2011, Korbin received news of a new heart that had become available. He was rushed to the hospital, and his journey for a second chance began. His transplant was successful, and after 2 months at Greenlane Hospital’s Hearty Towers, Korbin went home. He is doing daily gym physio and is following a very strict new regime of pills and learning what foods he now can and cannot eat. At almost 3 months after his surgery, Korbin has walked 5.4kms (with lots of rest stops) a couple of times already.

A transplant is not a cure but will drastically improve Korbin’s quality of life and life expectancy and his mum Jules is doing all she can to make life better for young Korbin.

Cure Kids is thrilled for Korbin and his family and wish Korbin a speedy recovery, knowing now that this brave young man has been given a second chance.