Two Feet & A Heartbeat 2026 News Clipping:
Originally posted 23/10/2026 in the Courier Mail
Link here
By Lili Tisch-Bostock
A Yeppoon family is putting on their runners for a good cause after their youngest member was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease, undergoing open-heart surgery at just 18 months old.
Cooper Hiscox, 4, was diagnosed with a heart defect called an atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD)at six months old.
“He has a defect in his heart as well a hole in his heart which affected the four chambers of the heart and also had floppy valves, so the blood would go back and forth instead of just going forward,” mum Ebony Hiscox said.
After delays due to illness, Cooper underwent open heart surgery at 18 months old, a six-hour procedure at Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.
Cooper Hiscox underwent open heart surgery at 18-months old after being diagnosed with a heart defect. Picture: Ebony Hiscox
Ebony said it was “very stressful,” but the hospital was “amazing”.
“There’s so many appointments before and after… it’s quite frightening, even the recovery, you’re nervous about everything going well,” she said.
“Prior to the heart surgery he was quite weak and he struggled to put weight on, so once he had his surgery we noticed a huge difference. He was up walking and became a lot stronger and a lot healthier.”
Ebony Hiscox, husband Gavin Hiscox and children Cooper, Harper and Mahli will be walking in this year’s Two Feet and a Heartbeat Walk, bringing awareness to childhood-onset heart disease. Picture: Ebony Hiscox
Ebony said Cooper will need another surgery when he is older but said he is “quite strong” and a “happy, busy little boy”.
“He loves dinosaurs and he loves his cars and trucks, like a typical little boy… he loves kicking the footy and annoying his sisters, I suppose. He’s very cheeky,” Ebony said.
Ebony and her family will be walking this Sunday, October 25 at 8am at Kershaw Gardens, Rockhampton to raise money for HeartKids, which advocates for childhood-onset heart disease and supports families like hers.
Cooper Hiscox was just six months old when he was diagnosed with a heart defect called an atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD)
