We're Sonny's family, and we want to tell you about our beautiful son, grandson, nephew and cousin. This is a difficult story to tell because Sonny has endured an unfathomable amount of trauma but also, between every major event that you will read about below, Sonny has faced an avalanche of medical procedures, interventions, blood tests, x-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, dialysis, bleeds, bruises, constant nausea, vomiting, surgical drains, ventilators, catheters, cannulas, infections, bed sores, full body muscle atrophy, loss of speech, dressing changes, feeding tubes and endless medications.

In late October 2024 aged 14, Sonny felt unwell with what seemed like a common infection. After a few days of general illness and medical consultations, we raced him to the Royal Children's Hospital. Within minutes, it was clear we were facing something serious although we had no idea what was still to come. As I write this on 23 August 2026, Sonny has not yet left the hospital.

Sonny's first diagnosis was Necrotising Pneumococcal Pneumonia and Sepsis, a life-threatening combination that rapidly deteriorated his health. He was intubated immediately, but with no improvement over several weeks, surgeons fitted a tracheostomy and placed him on ECMO — a machine that takes over the lungs' job, removing blood from the body to oxygenate it before returning it.

On December 8th 2024, Sonny suffered a major cardiac arrest. After an hour of CPR by the RCH staff, he was placed in an induced coma while the damage was assessed. Against all odds, he survived and despite the set-back to his progress, we were beyond relieved to see him able to continue his journey in ICU.

Sadly, a month later, a second major cardiac arrest was less forgiving. Both sides of his heart failed to regain function, his kidneys were irreversibly damaged, and his lungs were significantly compromised. Sonny was transferred to the care of the cardiac team within ICU, and his ECMO was reconfigured from his neck to his chest to support both his heart and lungs.

In an attempt to help Sonny’s heart to repair, surgeons fitted him with an innovative coiled 'stent’ to aid blood flow, later replacing it with a larger version for more support. When that wasn't enough, he underwent heart bypass surgery to fit a left-side HeartMate — a mechanical pump run by a small computer and battery in a bag Sonny wears permanently, plugged into the mains overnight. Shortly after, to better support his right heart, surgeons fitted a BerlinHeart: an external pump connected via two large cannulas in his chest to a suitcase-sized device on wheels.

In January this year, after 15 months in ICU — a record for a Victorian child — Sonny moved to the Koala (cardiac) ward, where he's been working incredibly hard to regain control of his body and learn to walk again in daily sessions of physiotherapy. He was once a keen soccer player, bike rider, body surfer, swimmer, video gamer and quiz master who thrived at school and looked forward to a bright future. Over the past 18 months, his body has been through more than any human should have to endure.

Sonny's lung and kidney failure currently mean a heart transplant is not a viable option, so our immediate focus is bringing him home. This means replacing the BerlinHeart (hospital-only life support) with a second HeartMate. Recently, we learned the hospital is willing to proceed with this high-risk surgery — one Sonny wants to go ahead with, with his parent’s support. The exact date has not yet been set and will require another admission to ICU post-surgery.

Sonny is cognitively alert, sharp, witty and fiercely determined to get better and reclaim his life. His consultants at RCH often say he "doesn't follow any rule book" — he keeps defying the odds, exceeding expectations and inspiring us all with his positivity and humour in the face of so much pain.

Michelle and Louis have been by his side 7 days a week, helped by close family and friends with meals and unwavering love and hope. We feel lucky to have the world-class RCH at our doorstep - the ICU and Koala teams plus allied health specialists have gone above and beyond to keep Sonny alive and motivated. The sheer number of staff invested in his journey, who remind him daily of how far he has come, have been valuable to all of us.

Sonny's long-term path is uncertain, but he's made a bucket list, and coming home is at the very top. He's fighting with everything he has to get there, pushing himself to put on weight and gain strength ahead of the surgery to give himself the best possible chance.

Coming home will mean lifelong medical support at home and full-time parental care which is why we're sharing his story now. Michelle and Louis have had so many well wishes and offers of help and now is the time for us to ask for that on their behalf.

We are raising funds to ensure Sonny has the best possible chance of a meaningful recovery and quality of life outside the hospital. Sonny would dearly love to continue his recovery in the comfort of his home, start to cross off a few bucket list items and enjoy some life experiences whilst he is able.

Your support will go directly towards:

Any contribution, no matter the size, means the world to us. If you're not able to donate, sharing this page helps just as much.

Thank you for reading Sonny's story and for considering helping us give him the care, comfort and hope he so deeply deserves.