Matters of the heart
Hearing your child's heart beat for the first time is an emotional experience for parents-to-be. But what if this heart is not completely healthy? Johannes Montag experienced exactly that. “An absolutely exceptional situation in which you can lose your footing - torn away from normal everyday life,” is how he describes the initial period after the diagnosis. His family found help at the Heart Center in Munich. In addition to medical care, the family received comprehensive care and support from the Children's Hearts Foundation. "As an affected father, I have experienced the valuable activities and tasks that are carried out by Children's Hearts on a daily basis. The team and network around the univentricular heart center in particular has taken us as a family by the hand around the clock." The DRÄXLMAIER Group supports this commitment with regular donations.
Support far beyond the usual level
The Children's Heart Foundation is an important point of contact for affected families. The young patients usually spend many weeks at the Heart Center, and some parents are already there for prenatal consultations if a heart defect is detected during pregnancy. Some of the services provided by the Heart Center go far beyond the usual scope. The additional costs associated with this are largely co-financed by the foundation. “The Munich Children's Heart Foundation does all it can for children, young people and adults with congenital heart defects in Bavaria,” explains Linda Röß, head of the foundation. The foundation's range of activities includes promoting research, initiating modern therapy measures and equipping the heart center with the latest technology. These are projects that cannot or cannot be fully financed by the Heart Center itself or the health insurance companies.
“The work of the Munich Children's Heart Foundation is invaluable."
"Thanks to the commitment of the Heart Center and the foundation, affected families receive individual medical support and the best possible therapy for their child.”
Tom Wallner, Head of Product, Event & Innovation Marketing
An emergency contact for families - around the clock
The Foundation's extensive work enables the Heart Center to initiate projects such as that of Dr. Julia Lemmer. The specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine, with a focus on pediatric cardiology, offers affected families whose child is undergoing treatment at the Heart Center an emergency contact. If the worst comes to the worst, the doctor is available around the clock, seven days a week. This commitment is invaluable for the families with their young patients. As Dr. Lemmer knows the children personally and regularly receives up-to-date medical data from them, she is best placed to assess whether, how and how quickly the child needs to be treated in an acute situation. For Dr. Lemmer, this project, which she set up herself more than ten years ago, is a “project close to her heart”, as she says. However, the Heart Center cannot easily bill the health insurance companies for the availability and telephone advice given to families. This is where the Children's Hearts Foundation comes in - again supported by donations.
“The commitment of the experts at the Munich Heart Center is fully focused on the well-being of the patients,” praises Tom Wallner from DRÄXLMAIER. “Especially as a family-owned company, it is a matter close to DRÄXLMAIER's heart to support this.”
Information
Around 7,500 babies are born with a congenital heart defect in Germany every year. Around 4,000 of them require emergency surgery immediately after birth. The German Heart Center Munich is one of Germany's most renowned institutions in this field and treats children from all over Bavaria and beyond. The Munich Children's Heart Foundation supports the work of the Heart Center.