A couple are being awarded with an MBE for their efforts in raising nearly a million pounds after medics saved their daughter's life.
Little Luna Petrucci had two holes in her heart and was only a few days short of her second birthday when she had to undergo life-saving surgery at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital in 2015. It was a traumatic time for her parents Sergio and Emma Petrucci as they waited for their daughter to recover.
Thankfully, the procedure was successful and Luna, now 10, is living a normal life. After she pulled through, her parents wanted to express their thanks and started raising money to help fund machines, equipment, specialist nursing care and holistic treatment through various fundraising events throughout the year.
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They set up the Red Sky Foundation and have raised over £950,000 to support the Children’s Heart Unit as well as other worthy causes. Last year, the charity presented Sunderland Royal Hospital with one of the first digital X-ray machines suitable for newborn babies in Europe thanks to a £70,000 fundraising campaign.
Now Sergio, 47, and Emma, 41, of Sunderland, who are also parents to Enzo, 13, are getting an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to health and to the community. Speaking about the award, Sergio said: "It came as a complete surprise. I certainly wasn't expecting anything like this in the world. I'm just elated and absolutely overwhelmed.
"A lot of people need to take credit for this - the doctors and the nurses, who go above and beyond on a daily basis to save lives. And everyone else who has helped us along the way."
He explained that Red Sky Foundation got its charity status "at the worst possible time" when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020. But they were determined to take it forward and did so thanks to their "massive army of supporters".
Through RSF, they have managed to fund defibrillators across the North East and now collaborate with third party organisations to offer training and education from defibrillator use and CPR to advanced support for babies, children and adults with heart problems.
Talking about Luna and how they were inspired to raise funds, Sergio said: "She is now 10. She loves playing football, she's fit and has a healthy heart. We just wanted to give something back after all the help she was given."
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