Darwin Star Ball to raise money for Starlight Children’s Foundation

AUDREY Hosking spent the first year of her life in and out of hospital. She had three operations long before many would have their first

The Starlight Foundation helped Hayley and Clinton Hosking with their daughter Audrey when she had complications after being born with a duplex kidney. PICTURE: Elise Derwin

AUDREY Hosking spent the first year of her life in and out of hospital.

She had three operations long before many would have their first. Audrey’s mum Hayley Hosking said they were some of the most stressful days of her and her husband’s lives.

“It was really stressful and extremely emotional to have a brand new baby and them not to be 100 per cent,” she said.

“It was worrying but I guess if you’re informed, you’re OK and it always could have been a lot worse.”

Spending many nights sleeping on the floor of the hospital, the first-time parents spent hours waiting around hospitals in Darwin and Melbourne.

“She was born with a duplex kidney which got a super bug, an infection, so she had her ureter removed and it was on the outside of her body for a few months while they cleared the infection and then they went back in and re-implanted it and then went back in and fixed it up,” Mrs Hosking said.

Audrey’s condition was picked up with an ultrasound before birth which Mrs Hosking said prepared her for a sick child, but didn’t prepare her for the added infections and numerous operations.

“We thought it was going to be a straight forward thing but it turned into more than it should have,” she said.

Now a bubbly two-year-old, Audrey is well on the way to recovery with only general check-ups and a keen eye from her parents needed.

Mrs Hosking and husband Clinton praised the support and entertainment from the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

“Music is just such a great things for kids and then bubbles; Audrey is a bubble addict now,” she said.

As keen supporters of the foundation, Mr Hosking, who owns Hoskings Jewellers in Darwin, designed and made a pendant valued at $10,000 for this Friday night’s Paspaley Darwin Star Ball.

The Darwin Star Ball is the major fundraiser for the Starlight Children’s Foundation in the Territory. The one-off 18ct yellow and gold neckpiece was created by the prized jeweller and can be won by guests at the ball who buy a $25 ticket at the Champagne Diamond Bar.

About 700 people are expected to attend the ball. Tickets are sold out.