I spent months in hospital.
I remember waking up but I couldn't remember what happened.
I felt really scared being away from home.
In 2018, at the end of the year, the last two weeks of school,
I knew something wasn't right.
Tenaya was getting sicker every day, and I just noticed her losing weight and not having energy.
I didn't really know much about rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
So, I really didn't know what to expect.
Her oxygen levels started to drop, so she had to get put on oxygen
and flown straight to Perth.
When we got there, they called the doctor from ICU down.
Tenaya was on the edge, she was brought to Perth to Intensive Care
underwent two open heart surgeries.
She would have died if she didn't have those operations.
They did x-rays and found out her heart valve wasn't shutting properly and so they had to
put her on a life support machine.
I mean no child should have to experience open-heart surgery for goodness sake.
We live in Australia, we're a first-world economy, and yet out people are subjected
to living conditions that bring this disease on, when it has totally
been eliminated in mainstream Australia.
There's no cure for rheumatic heart disease.
The mainstay of treatment is monthly penicillin injections.
If you don't get those injections, you're exposing yourself to getting rheumatic fever again
and that can be catastrophic.
It was scary when I got to hospital because I don't like the needles.
We know how to deal with it.
We can signal the end of rheumatic heart disease in Australia.
We can implement the Endgame Strategy and we can end RHD, so that kids in the future
won't have to go through what Tenaya went through.
The Endgame Strategy has been five years in the making, building on decades of research
around understanding what it will take to control this disease and in fact, to eliminate it.
In the Endgame Strategy, we identify five critical elements to get rid of rheumatic heart disease.
The first, is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership is essential.
The second, is the importance of community-based programs.
The third, focuses on making sure that environments are healthy.
The fourth, means focusing on early prevention.
And the fifth, is around caring and supporting those who already have rheumatic heart disease.
And all of those things need to be done together because there is no silver bullet to actually
get rid of rheumatic heart disease.
Tenaya is just a full on outgoing kid.
She tries anything, and she will do anything, like sports.
She doesn't get embarrassed about the scar.
She'll walk around town with no shirt on still.
I feel very, very proud of Tenaya.
You know, she has been through so much already in her life.
She is just amazing.
You know, what a strong little soul she has.
But she also wants to be a footy player she said.
She wants to play for the Eagles (laughs).
Australia will be rid of rheumatic heart disease if we are able to implement our Strategy
and have it led by our people, so that we can eliminate all the risk factors and the fear
of anyone contracting this debilitating illness ever again.
We now have the blueprint to end rheumatic heart disease in Australia.
If we do this, we give kids like Tenaya, around the country
an opportunity to live their lives to the fullest.
Kids like me need your help.