ON DECEMBER 27, 2011 we lost our daughter Alecia to SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome).
She had just turned 27 on December 19.
She laid down on her bed and then she was gone, she was a chiropractor, fit and healthy and had no health issues that we knew of.
I decided to put on a ball to honour what would have been Alecia's 30th birthday and to raise vital funds for SADS.
I called the event 'The Butterfly Ball' and it was held in the Toodyay Memorial Hall on December 20 with 147 tickets sold.
I approached Saun from Richard's 360 Christmas Shop to decorate the hall.
He did not hesitate to say yes and at no charge.
He asked me what I wanted and I had one word for him princess.
Saun, Lynley and Matt did an amazing job to make it so special.
Zoe who Alecia went to school with and Aarron entertained us with their guitar and singing for the first couple of hours, they were fantastic.
We had a silent auction an auction and table raffle.
Thanks to South Perth Travel, Michael Hill Jewellers, Ballantyne Jewellers, Covs, Everlastings, Toodyay Emporium, Black Wattle Retreat, Lynley Chitty for Quilt, Jude for Cake for their help and also donations from some other wonderful people.
The band The Baker Boys played such a wide range of music, catering for all age groups, thank you.
Wayne from Toodyay Photography took some amazing photos.
Nathan Martin was the MC and auctioneer for the night, he did a great job.
Thanks to: Paige, Bev, Bonny, Nick, Fiona, Sue and Deb who were my volunteers to cover the bar and floor, could not of done it without them, they worked tirelessly.
Thank you to the shire for its support.
Affair with Flare from Midvale for lending me the vases and helping me out with table clothes and chair covers and their florist for supplying 50 Gerbera's.
Corinja Winery for donating the red wine for the tables.
Lynda from Blackwattle Catering for the beautiful food and John from the Freemasons for the bar.
Ross who drove the Toodyay Community Bus, which was great way to get people home.
SADS can be a genetic cardiac condition that can affect young people aged five to 35.
'SADS' death is always sudden and generally with no prior warning, with the first symptom occurring within seconds or minutes, or not at all, up to 10 young people a week in Australia pass away from 'SADS'.
The warning signs can be sudden fainting or seizures, during or shortly after exercise, especially swimming, or triggered by emotional excitement or a loud noise and proceeded by a sensation of a racing heart.
Any of these symptoms should be checked out by a cardiologist.
In some cases a young person will have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implanted which monitors the heart and re-starts the heart if an abnormality is found.
In our case Alecia had no health problems that we knew of, she had just turned 27 and had a great career.
She laid down on her bed on December 27, 2011 and then she was gone.
Balls are not held in Toodyay very often, everyone who attended commented how nice it was to get dressed up and with a lot of support of other people the night was perfect.
We raised $12,000 after expenses, which is totally amazing, well done everyone who attended, we could not have achieved this incredible amount without your help and support.
As we had so much support we would like to think we could make it a biannual event, what a great way to help raise vital funds for SADS.
A big thank you to everyone for a fantastic night and great achievement
