As her mum and dad wait to learn if she'll need a heart transplant, little Violet Rolinson is thankfully unaware of her fight for life.
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After all, it's all she's ever known, after having been diagnosed with a serious condition when she was just weeks old.
But her relatives and friends are all too knowing of how high the stakes are for the "extremely bubbly, really happy" 11-month old, and are heaping their support on the Gunnedah baby.
Dozens of donors have pitched in to a gofundme account to help support Reanna Beasley and Dan Rolinson in their efforts to keep Violet happy and healthy.
"Violet and her parents are doing everything possible to stay positive and to enjoy every moment they have with each other [but they] need your help," the gofundme page says.
Ms Beasley said Violet was so cheerful "you would not think there was a single thing wrong with her" - but it became apparent when she was three weeks old that she had a life-threatening condition.
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"My mum was holding her, and she turned blue and stopped breathing in Mum's arms," she said.
After going to their local hospital's emergency department, they were transferred to Tamworth.
"They kept her in for a few days and sent X-rays to Sydney [which then] asked to see Violet.
"We were only supposed to fly down for the day - they ended keeping her until three days before Christmas."
Violet has dilated cardiomyopathy; the left side of her heart is enlarged, her heart doesn't pump properly and she has only 11 per cent blood flow coming out of her heart, her mother said.
"She's on eight different medications - some orally, others through her feeding tube.
"We're [in] Melbourne for a heart transplant assessment; they will tell us whether they want us to move down there ... in case a donor heart becomes available.
"If they give her the go-ahead, she will go on the transplant list and wait for a new heart."
Violet's illness and the travel to health checks and treatment has put the households of Ms Beasley, and Mr Rolinson who also has a two-year-old daughter, under a lot of pressure, she said.
"I can't work, because Violet can't go to daycare, because she absolutely can't get sick," she said.
"We're doing the best we can; it gets tough at times."
Carolyn Millet
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
