Bianca Klingner: Palmerston mum of Oliver, 7, who lives with Down syndrome, wouldn’t change a thing

A Palmerston mum has shared the story of the best decision she’s made, the challenges her family has overcome, and the helping hand she got along the way. Read her story of resilience and joy.

In Australia, up to 90 per cent of pregnancies where prenatal testing has shown the presence of Down syndrome are not continued.

Yet for Driver mum-of-three Bianca Klingner, who at the time was 21 and separated from her partner, there was a crystal clear moment of clarity when she knew she would not be one of them.

“I went in for a scan with my mum and up until this point I was collecting information to make an informed decision on the life I could provide for my son,” Ms Klingner said.

“Seeing that perfect baby boy on the screen, heart rate normal, kicking and moving around, I could see all his fingers and toes, he didn’t look like a baby with a disability, he just looked like my baby.”

“I said to mum, that’s my baby.

“I wanted to meet my baby.”

Fast forward to 2024, and Oliver, aged seven, is kicking goals in year 1 at school.

“He knows all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds and he can count well for a child who has had a lot of time away from school,” a proud Ms Klingner said.

“Oliver loves music and dance.

Oliver Wilkinson in hospital. Picture: Supplied

“He loves being around his cousins and aunty and uncles.

“He’s really family oriented.”

His successes and the joy he has brought to his mum, her partner and his two little siblings, Teddy and Loki, overshadows his early fight for life and the ongoing medical woes that have seen him go under the knife more than any little boy should.

Most seriously, Oliver was born with an unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect – a hole in his heart – for which he underwent surgery at 11 weeks.

Ms Klingner recalled this as a daunting, isolating time in her life.

Oliver Wilkinson with stepdad Tyler. Picture: Supplied

“I met my current partner [Tyler] when Oliver was one, so it was just Oliver and I at this point,” she said.

“It was really difficult, being my first baby.

“I was sent away to Melbourne to give birth on my own and deal with the challenges that followed.

“But he was healthy and strong enough to have his surgery.

“If he didn’t have that surgery, he wouldn’t be here today.”

Bianca Klingner with children Loki, Ollie and Teddy. Picture: Supplied

Yet it wasn’t just the septal defect that Oliver and his family have overcome.

“As he’s gotten older, he’s developed an array of medical conditions that we manage,” Ms Klingner said.

“Every year, Oliver has had multiple, multiple hospital admissions, appointments, and surgeries.

“Over the years, he’s developed quite a lot of trauma and anxiety around the things he has endured in hospital.”

Oliver Wilkinson in hospital. Picture: Supplied

It is in this context that Ms Klingner and Oliver came to know the Starlight Foundation which, through its Starlight Express Room and Captain Starlight program, aims to transport ill and injured children far away from the sterile hospital setting.

“The captains would stand there and sing at his door and Oliver would be a happy bubbly kid, almost like he wasn’t at the hospital,” Ms Klingner said.

“The captains know Oliver by name, they remember what songs he likes.

“[The Starlight Express Room] is a safe space he can go to where nobody is going to hurt him or poke and prod him.”

Tuesday is Starlight Day, the charity’s biggest annual fundraiser, with private donations doubled by Starlight’s partners, as it seeks to raise $1m by the end of June.

More than 850 sick Territorian kids are reached each month in Darwin and Alice Springs by the Starlight Foundation.

To donate visit starlight.au/NTNewsOliver