When Alisa and Oliver Camplin-Warner lost their son, Finnan, due to congenital heart disease in 2011, their world changed forever. An undoubtedly heartbreaking situation, but the strength and selflessness of both Alisa and Oliver saw them channel that heartbreak into a powerful mission – one that honours their precious son and provides hope for others.
Through their charity, Finnan’s Gift, Alisa and Oliver have been able to passionately fund life-changing cardiac projects at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), bringing comfort, care, and innovation to families navigating the same painful journey they once faced.
“Oliver and I wanted to honour Finnan’s fight for life, by helping the truly passionate hardworking staff at the RCH to have as many world class resources at their disposal as possible,” Alisa shared.
“We’ve wanted to keep giving them every chance to create positive outcomes, for every congenital heart disease patient who’s entered the hospital, after we left,” she added.
Alisa and Oliver Camplin-Warner speaking at the RCH
This year, Finnan’s Gift is proud to support a truly special initiative – educational toolkits. These innovative resources are designed to further strengthen the understanding of congenital heart disease across every level of the RCH, from patients and families to the healthcare teams who care for them.
“We’ve helped so many different departments inside the hospital that contribute to cardiac care over the last 13 years, so we thought it made sense as Finnan’s Gift entered its ‘teenage years’ that we invested in a significant project that helped patients and families better understand, explain and navigate their individual congenital heart disease journeys,” explained Alisa.
Developed in partnership with the University of Melbourne, these toolkits will use advanced technologies – such as augmented reality and three dimensional printing. The first phase of the project will focus on creating a series of three-dimensional models that depict both a child’s heart affected by congenital heart disease and a healthy heart for comparison. By transforming complex medical information into something families and clinicians can see and interact with, the project aims to build confidence and a shared understanding.
“Our experiences at the RCH with Finnan gave us first-hand experience of a parent’s congenital heart disease journey. It can be very overwhelming taking on so much new, complex and critical information at a time of great emotional strain,” Alisa highlighted.
Finnan receiving treatment at the RCH.
“It can also be hard to comprehend, ask the right questions and especially to think forward about possible post treatment needs – both long and short term,” she added.
Beyond the interactive, three-dimensional models, the project also aims to provide co-designed educational materials to support families as they transition into managing chronic disease post-surgery. These resources have the potential to significantly transform families’ experiences at the RCH, empowering them to make informed decisions and ask critical questions throughout their journey.
To date, the couple have raised over $4 million, supporting countless sick children and their families but Alisa and Oliver credit this impact to the generosity and ongoing support of their donors.
“We are incredibly grateful for their trust and desire to work collectively to make a tangible long-term difference within the community we all live. It honestly melts our hearts, to know what we’ve all achieved together over so many years!” she concluded.
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