Family’s hope to make final precious memories with Sienna, the little girl born with half a heart 

The family of Sienna Alfonso have set up a fundraiser to help them make memories with her in the precious time they have left.

The 11-year-old has captured people’s hearts across Merseyside, thanks to her battling spirit and her never-ceasing smile, in spite of the struggles she has faced.

Born with half a heart, Sienna from Hunts Cross has undergone numerous open heart surgeries, had brain and spinal operations, suffered kidney disease, and more.

She is unable to see, speak or walk – and yet has never been anything other than the ‘cheeky and mischievous’ youngster who endures everything with a grin and a sparkle in her eyes.

Sadly, Sienna is becoming increasingly unwell, with the pressures on her body finally becoming too much.

Mum Francesca said:

“The strain is becoming very real. And it’s heartbreaking.

“We don’t know now whether we’ve got two hours left, two days, two weeks, two months or years.

“Sienna is getting tired as her condition now affects all the organs in her body.

“It’s so hard.

“That’s why my sister Alexis has set up the Go Fund Me page. We want to make memories with Sienna because one day that’s all we’ll have left.

“Time is running out and I want to live every day as if it’s her last, helping her experience so many things that she hasn’t, and keeping her smiling for as long as we can.”

Francesca admits:

“It heart-breaking. It’s so difficult. But I don’t want to look back and say I spent her last days crying. I want to be able to say I gave her the best time, that she had the best memories, and met the best people.

“As much as it’s killing me inside, I don’t want that for her.”

Sienna was born with ‘half a heart’. She has tricuspid atresia and pulmonary atresia, a congenital heart disease where there is no tricuspid valve. The absence of a right atrioventricular connection leads to a hypoplastic (undersized) or absent right ventricle (pumping chamber) which means it isn’t able to properly oxygenate the blood in the body.

And she went on to develop other serious medical conditions.

Her life has been filled with hospitals appointments and stays, operations and medications. She has a wheelchair to help get her around, and she is tube fed and given oxygen constantly to enable her to breathe.

All of which is remarkable for the little girl who, even before she was born, doctors feared might not live.

“Sienna has already exceeded what was expected of her.  She’s a little fighter,” says Francesa. “Alder Hey have travelled to Canada and America, worldwide for her.  In 2024 she had an operation that’s normally carried out on kidney patients because it can raise oxygen levels, but while it did that initially, it failed after six weeks.

“Sienna’s haemoglobin levels are now over 250, way over an average person’s of 150, which means she could have a stroke, a blood clot or a cardiac arrest at any minute.

“She is on medication that’s normally only given to adults to try to bring the numbers down. Sienna is in heart failure but she isn’t strong enough to face any other surgeries or anaesthetic, and she’s not eligible for a heart transplant because of all the other conditions she has.

“It’s hard because she is so happy and has no understanding of how ill she is, but every time she is ill and gets knocked down now, the Sienna who comes back is not the same.

“While I’ve screamed until I’m blue in the face, I have to accept that there’s nothing more that can be done for her.

“What we can do is make wonderful memories in whatever time we have left.”

The Go Fund Me page is already standing at around £300 with a target of £1,200. The hope is that, while Sienna would be unable to fly, the family might be able to take her to Disneyland Paris where there’s specialist support and facilities that could help her.

“Beyond that I haven’t thought that far,” admits Francesca, 30, who, with Sienna’s dad Kyle, has spent a lifetime of caring for their daughter.

“She hasn’t climbed a climbing frame, or jumped in puddles, or done so many things that other children her age have done – although she did have a special prom organised at the Royal School for the Blind where she goes last year,” says Francesca.

“Her sleepovers aren’t at friends’ homes but at a hospice.

“I just want to give her the best memories and help her to enjoy every day, and grab every moment while we can.”

Francesca says that while the last 11 years have been hard, being Sienna’s mum has meant everything to her.

“It has been so rewarding. And if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing.

“It’s being what and who she is that makes Sienna so special.

“She has taught me so much in life, above all how to love.  I have never felt love like I have for her ever.

“That is a privilege. And that’s why I want to make memories, with and for her, that we can all remember forever.”

You can help Sienna and her families make those special memories here.

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