At 23 weeks pregnant, a scan on Brianna Hammond's unborn child revealed an abnormality with her baby's heart. Diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia with VSD (in layman's terms a closed vessel and a hole in the heart), Brianna's child will need immediate life-saving postnatal surgery. Independent game developer Samuel Cartwright has banded together with other local game developers to create Games for Growing a Broken Heart, a series of mobile games to raise funds for the Hammond family.
Brianna's child will undergo immediate postnatal surgery and need ongoing monitoring along with further surgery in later childhood and adulthood. To further complicate their situation Brianna and her family live at Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday region of Queensland and, at 36 weeks pregnant, she will travel over 1000 kilometres alone to the closest major hospital in Brisbane. The cost of this life-saving surgery and long-distance travel has placed a serious financial burden on the Hammond family.
Games for Growing a Broken Heart is a fundraising initiative started by local independent game developer and high school friend of Brianna, Samuel Cartwright, that aims to raise at least $5000 to cover Brianna's hospital and travel expenses through the sale of mobile games published by local independent developers and game studios. The promotion runs in conjunction with the Growing a Broken Heart fundraiser to be held at the Southport Workers Club on the Gold Coast on July 7 2012.
Samuel Cartwright's latest independent iPhone game “Doubloons!” will be released on the Apple App Store on July 6 2012. This fast-paced classic puzzle game brings an exciting, pirate-themed twist to the match four-of-a-kind genre. Twenty cents from each sale will go directly to the Hammond family.
Local Brisbane studio FreshTone Games, publisher of the “One Single Life” series of iPhone games has also pledged a cash donation. The acclaimed and controversial iPhone game “One Single Life” achieved over 2.6 million downloads, achieving a first for its kind in the retail gaming world.
Similar pledges for financial assistance are currently being sought from other local independent game developers and game studios.
Brianna is wife to husband Sean, and mother to 9 year old Ellah. Prior to her baby's due date of August 24 2012, Brianna will move to Brisbane without her family so that her baby can undergo a lifesaving postnatal operation.
The first stage surgery will occur one to two days after birth, where doctors will insert an aorta to pulmonary shunt to supply blood to the lungs while simultaneously fixing the valve that is absent or closed. Second stage surgery will be performed when the child is between six and twelve months old and involves the removal of the shunt, closing the VSD (hole in the heart), and the insertion of a lung valve and graft. The child will then need replacement pulmonary homografts in later childhood and adulthood.
Brianna's father was in the 6th RAR C Company from 1966 to 1967. As a medic on the front line in Vietnam, he suffered from exposure to Agent Orange. Brianna herself suffers from unusual medical issues that, along with those of her unborn child, are suspected to have resulted from this exposure. Brianna's father passed away before her birth.
Donations can be made directly to the Hammond family at: http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/fundraise.php?id=51815
Information on the Growing a Broken Heart event at the Southport Workers Club on the Gold Coast on July 7 2012 can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingABrokenHeart