Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, held each February, is a powerful reminder of the impact congenital and childhood-onset heart disease has on thousands of Australian families.
On 17 February, the Covetrus team came together alongside Platinum sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim for a meaningful team-building activity that united colleagues across Provet, Technology Solutions and Crampton Consulting Group (CCG). Together, we built and donated bikes to HeartKids, the only Australian charity solely dedicated to supporting families impacted by congenital and childhood-acquired heart disease.
HeartKids’ mission is to give every child, teenager and adult in Australia living with congenital or childhood-onset heart disease the opportunity to live a long, healthy and fulfilling life.
The statistics are sobering:
- Every day in Australia, eight babies are born with a heart condition.
- Four of those babies will require surgery or medical intervention.
- Today, more than 250,000 Australians are living with childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD).
On the day, our team had the privilege of meeting Wyatt (5), who has undergone more than 20 surgeries, and Olive (6), who has already had two heart surgeries in her young life. Seeing their excitement as they chose their own bikes was a powerful reminder of why initiatives like this matter. The gratitude from their families and the firsthand experience of making a tangible difference left a lasting impact on our team.
At Covetrus, we’re proud to support not only veterinary professionals, but also the wider community. Opportunities like this allow us to come together, strengthen our teams, and contribute to causes that truly make a difference.
Thank you to the Boehringer Ingelheim team for their support.