Two Feet & A Heartbeat 2026 News Clipping:

Originally posted 16/10/2026 in the Geraldton Guardian
Link available here

Author: Sienna Seychell

Diagnosed before birth with a serious heart condition, seven-month-old Emilia Cooper has already had two heart operations. This Sunday, her family will walk to raise awareness of childhood heart disease.

At just seven months old, Emilia Cooper’s cheeky smile belies the major health challenges she has already faced in her short life, which began with heart surgery when she was just a day old.

Baby Emilia’s entrance to the world, and the months that followed, have been anything but smooth sailing.

After Geraldton mum Nikky Gordon had her 20-week anatomy scan, she received a dreaded call from her doctor asking her to come back for an in-person visit, where she was told about the heart condition.

Ms Gordon spent much of the rest of her pregnancy travelling between Geraldton and Perth to receive care from specialist teams that aren’t available in Geraldton.

With her husband, Neil Cooper, working fly-in, fly-out, Ms Gordon faced this new challenge with minimal support at home.

Walking for HeartKids

This Sunday, the HeartKids community is coming together for the Geraldton Two Feet and a Heartbeat walk.

The annual walk raises awareness of childhood heart disease. Every day in Australia, eight babies are born with a heart condition, and other children will develop one during childhood.

Ms Gordon and her family will join the walk at 10am at Midalia Beach, following her daughter’s diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot.

A difficult start

Towards the end of her pregnancy, Ms Gordon relocated to Perth to prepare for a potentially complicated post-birth plan, which included possible surgeries by specialist teams.

Ms Gordon and her eldest daughter, Elsie Cooper, 3, moved into Ronald McDonald House when she was 36 weeks pregnant, staying for six weeks.

Just hours after Ms Gordon gave birth to Emilia at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Emilia was transferred by the newborn and paediatric emergency transport service to Perth Children’s Hospital for her first heart surgery.

At 11am the next day, surgeons successfully opened her heart valve through an access point in her groin.

Emilia spent the first two weeks of her life in the Perth NICU. When she was given the green light to go home, the family was happy to return to Geraldton.

After the surgery, Emilia needed medication three times a day until she was ready for her second operation.

Open-heart surgery at 3½ months

At 3½ months old, Emilia returned to Perth for a full repair by open-heart surgery.

Ms Gordon said she was nervous during the operation.

“I purposely didn’t ask beforehand how long it was expected to take because I didn’t want to know. We’d be counting down,” she said.

Emilia spent 10 days in hospital recovering, and a week after she was discharged, the family was able to return home to Geraldton once again.

Life with a heart condition

Now seven months old, Emilia is a happy and healthy baby. But the ongoing reality of living with childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD) looms large.

“They did the full repair of the Tetralogy of Fallot, but part of that is that she doesn’t have a pulmonary valve. So blood goes out, and blood comes back. Most kids will tolerate it for a long time,” Ms Gordon said.

Emilia will eventually need another operation, though it could be many years away.

Ms Gordon said HeartKids had been in touch with the family since Emilia’s diagnosis, providing practical support along the way.

Calling for better regional care

Ms Gordon, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia, would like to see better access to care in the regions, so travelling to Perth isn’t another barrier for families already going through so much.

She appreciated the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme’s help with the trips, though she said some were hard to justify.

“Having to go down for a scan that takes half an hour, and it had to be under general anaesthetic, was a little frustrating. It’s a long way to go just for that, but everything else was really good,” she said.

Ms Gordon is looking forward to Sunday’s walk with her husband and their two girls.

“It’ll be nice to debrief different journeys, different conditions, but it’s nice to have someone to talk to who understands,” she said.