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.

Estelle, Poppy's Mum

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).
Starship's PICU is New Zealand's national service for children requiring intensive care for more than 24 hours.

It's the very best chance of survival for critically ill little ones like Poppy.

Every single year, Starship's PICU admits more than 1,000 very sick babies and children - and the number is growing all the time.
To be there for every child who comes to PICU for lifesaving care, Starship needs your support.
Poppy stayed in PICU for a total of eight months, fighting to get well.
After 237 days in PICU, Poppy was transferred to the Heart Ward. It's been a very hard time for her family. It is so heartening that Poppy is now well enough that she was sent home with her loving family to Hamilton, in June this year.