Introducing the one and only Oakley Curley! Oakley loves swimming, messy play and most of all playing with his siblings.

Oakly is just over a year old and lives with Mum Monique, Dad Paul, sisters Tiger Lily and Savanah and brothers Odin and Loki (pictured below).

When Oakley was three weeks old, he was diagnosed with unicuspid aortic valve with critical stenosis and severe regurgitation which required open heart surgery. Following this, he was able to return home briefly for Christmas before lots of hospital visits as his mitral and aortic valves were not working as hoped for post-surgery. Oakley was then admitted back into Starship Hospital for a second open heart surgery that took over 12 hours! Oakley’s parents and siblings spent last summer in his hospital room, making sure he was happy and well looked-after.

Before Oakley was born, his family spent all of the Christmas holidays at a Department of Conservation site at Lake Rerewhakaaitu as well as camping trips on the long weekends. His family are big into the outdoors, and everyone loves surfing, paddleboarding and kayaking. However, since Oakley has been around, he has not been able to join in on the family fun as he requires multiple doses of medication that needs to be kept refrigerated.

With the help of Fund for Good, Oakley’s parents have been able to purchase some items to help him to participate in a normal kiwi summer with his loving family. This includes:

A portable powerstation with a solar panel to keep Oakley’s medication at a safe temperature and ensure his parents phones are always charged in case of emergency and to capture precious family memories.

A portable fridge with battery so the family can go out for the best part of a day and keep his medication safe (chilly bins are hard to keep at the correct temperature when travelling, even to hospital appointments).

A large sun shelter with sides so he can stay sheltered and be contained when needed.

We are so happy to be able to help Oakley join his family in their happy place as well as swim, and exploring the sand, stones and shells.

A big congratulations to Oakley, one of our successful Fund for Good recipients. Fund for Good is an innovation program helping to fund special projects and dreams of Manawanui customers which can’t be funded elsewhere.

Oakley is incredibly brave and resilient, and we can’t wait to update you all with some images of him making incredible memories with his family.

Ka pai Oakley 👏👏