With Jump Rope for Heart day approaching, Shepparton’s Ellie Spiteri refused to skip the opportunity to jump on board and raise funds.
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Having come close to losing her grandfather as a result of a heart attack and with multiple family members also facing heart disease, the Year 1 student from Kialla Central Primary School saw the event as a chance to support her family while helping others who were in a similar position.
Her mum Emily Thomas-Wroe said Ellie's main drive had come from the circumstances surrounding her grandfather.
“She’s very close to him and it completely shattered her when she found out, so that’s pretty much the reason she’s doing this,” she said.
“It’s something that’s very close to our hearts.”
Ms Thomas-Wroe said having her daughter approach her to ask if she could help, came as a proud-mum moment.
“There’s not a lot of kids out there that want to help, it’s more that they just want to take, so for her to come to us and say ‘I want to help’ was really good.”
Ellie’s initial aim was to reach $200 in donations, but it did not take long to exceed her expectations and soon she was reassessing her goal.
Now with donations sitting at more than $800, Ellie said she hoped to hit $1000 before Jump Rope for Heart day on Friday.