Hello,

My name is Emma and I am 9 years old turning ten in July, I sometimes do some volunteer work with the Australian SADS Foundation.

One day I took a model pacemaker and a defibrillator to school for news.

Last year we/my family, went to visit the Medtronics Company (the pacemaker place), the people who work there had invited us to have a tour of the building to see all the pacemakers, and how they have changed over the years, they asked me if I had a pacemaker operation, because my sister and two of my brothers have a pacemaker for Long QT Syndrome, but I don't have one.

Because they found out that I have Long QT Syndrome before I ever fainted or had any symptoms, I don't need a pacemaker because I take the medicine which is keeping me safe from fainting, my brothers and sister used to faint.

When the people at Medtronics invited us to visit, they gave each of us a pretend model of a pacemaker to show to others, so now I can say that I have one as well!

At school the teacher was very interested to see the pacemaker and the defibrillator, she wanted to borrow them one day to show to people that she knows, my mum said that she could borrow them.

It was funny watching the kids in the class room holding the pacemaker and the leads very gently as they passed it around for everyone to see it closely and to feel them.

I told them that the defibrillator is usually put inside the skin near the shoulder and on the left hand side of your body above your heart, sometimes it is put on the right side though I found out later, but that my sister and brothers have a pacemaker near the stomach part of their body, because there is more muscle to protect it when your only a child.

I also brought the pacemaker along to school last year, when I was eight and was in year three. A lot of the people in my class do not know what a pacemaker is , so they were surprised when they saw a real one ,they also don't know what they do properly, how they work or what they are for, so I explained a little bit about what a pacemaker is for and how It can help save lives by keeping your heart beat more regular.

Please visit the Australian SADS Foundation.