Akel Fuller-Chapman’s parents Tim and Lyndsey pay tribute to son

The little boy from Ipswich had four open heart surgeries in his short life with plans to lay him to rest in the family’s home town delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Akel Fuller-Chapman with parents Tim and Lyndsey. Photo: Children’s Hospital Foundation

The parents of a little boy who “fought all his life” with a rare and complex heart condition are waiting for Covid restrictions to ease so they can lay him to rest in the small country town they call home.

Akel Fuller-Chapman was born in January 2017 with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome and spent much of his short life in the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

His parents Tim and Lyndsey moved from Eidsvold, about two hours inland of Bundaberg, to Ipswich to be closer to the hospital.

Akel Fuller-Chapman with his family. The young boy spent a significant amount of his life in hospital recovering from surgeries.

The condition results in the left side of the heart being critically underdeveloped, meaning it can’t effectively pump blood to the body.

Akel spent about 40 per cent of his life in the hospital recovering from life-saving surgeries and had four open heart surgeries in just four years, on top of countless specialist appointments and emergency trips.

He had his first open heart surgery when he was only a week old and his second at six months.

The Ipswich boy ended up with a mechanical valve in his heart.

He passed away on July 20 at the age of four.

Father Tim Chapman said it had been a sleepless and difficult few weeks for the family but Akel always kept a smile on his face despite everything he went through.

Akel loved Marvel superheroes and playing with his four siblings.

Akel loved Marvel superheroes and playing with his brother and three sisters and showed tremendous strength through everything thrown at him.

“Through it all he just thought he was a normal kid,” Mr Chapman said.

“He was always smiling and a happy little kid. It just breaks my heart.

“Through all the recovery time he was always smiling and gave a thumbs up.

“Nothing really held him back. He tried hard playing around with his brothers and sisters. All the nurses and doctors got to know him. They all fell in love with him as well.”

A superhero themed birthday party was held with family and friends in Rosewood at the start of the year to celebrate Akel as his condition started to deteriorate.

“He had a leaky valve,” Tim said.

“It was that month he was diagnosed with the heart failure.”

The family was planning on holding his funeral this weekend but plans to do so back home in Eidsvold were put off due to the escalating Covid-19 situation in Queensland.

The young Ipswich boy always kept a smile on his face despite everything thrown at him.

“We want to take him back to country,” mother Lyndsey Fuller said.

“It’s our home town. Because of Covid we can’t travel and if we did there’s all these kinds of restrictions.

“We’re hoping to have it next Saturday and gave him the farewell he deserves. He’s fought all of his life. He deserves this.”

They will remain living in Leichhardt as their kids are settled in locals schools.

“It’s going to be hard to go back and leave Akel there but we plan to go back all the time,” Ms Fuller said.

“It was hard to make the choice to take it back there. It’s where we end up when we go.”

Akel’s parents found out about his rare condition through an ultrasound scan and quickly packed up their lives to move to Ipswich.

The switch several hours south wasn’t easy but they thanked the staff at the QCH and their local community for their incredible support during difficult times.

Neighbours have dropped off groceries and meals to their home and fundraisers have been held at local rugby league clubs to assist with rising medical and transport costs.

More than $9000 has been raised for the family on GoFundMe since February.

Mrs Fuller gave particular thanks to their neighbours the Pickers and local business Snap Print and Design for their help.

“Akel was seven months when they let him out (of the hospital) after his second operation … it was a big change for us,” she said.

“One of us had to stay at the hospital while the other one was looking after the kids. It was really hard.

“Tim gave up his job (at a sawmill in Eidsvold).

The family plan to lay Akel to rest in Eidsvold.

“They said there were a lot of mothers that did have babies like Akel but they chose to abort the pregnancy because the operation only just became available in Queensland just before he was born.

“Prior to that you had to move all the way down to Melbourne to get that operation done.

“They said a lot of mothers who chose to go ahead with the pregnancy were losing their babies because they were letting them go home after the first operation.”

“We only met three other kids with the same thing,” Mr Chapman said.

If wish to donate to the family you can do so here.

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.