Six-year-old Oliver Carlyon’s donated new trike to help him live life as normal kid despite heart condition

Six-year-old Oliver Carlyon’s congenital heart condition can take his breath away during everyday activities but the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton has helped him reach a major milestone. Learning to ride a bike can be hard at the best of times but for Oliver, hypoplastic left heart syndrome made it much more difficult. Oliver has undergone six open-heart surgeries and spent more than a year-and-a-half in and out of hospital. As a result of these life-saving surgeries, his oxygen saturation is low, sitting between 70 and 80 per cent. A three-wheeled bike supplied by Revolutions in Geraldton and donated to a delighted Oliver by the local Rotary club, is designed to grow with him. Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton past president Geoff Wood said: ”It is fantastic to be able to assist Ollie and his family improve his quality of life.” Oliver’s mum, Sarah Carlyon, said activities like bike riding became harder as Oliver got older and grew, and he often ended up having to be carried. “Kids take for granted they can ride a bike,” she said. “Ollie can’t do that on his own because of his heart condition, so this is something that will make his life like a normal kid. “He can’t do sports and contact sports that other kids can do, so this is giving him the opportunity to live like a normal kid, which is pretty big.”