WHEN the Heart Centre for Children at The Children's Hospital, Westmead, said it needed a new echocardiography machine, it was only fitting that Carol Caleo answered the call.
Mrs Caleo, of Taren Point, lost her brother Peter to a heart condition decades ago when he was five.
Their bereaved father John MacDonald established the hospital's first heart unit auxiliary to raise funds for better equipment.
The St George electrical engineer designed, funded and built the hospital's first heart machine in 1958.
Mrs Caleo will hold a fund-raiser at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth grand ballroom on Friday, September 13, to help raise $400,000 for the purchase of the "echo" machine, which converts electrical impulses into moving pictures of the heart.
Six children are born with a life-threatening heart condition in Australia each day. The Heart Centre treats more than 3500 children with congenital heart disease every year.
The fund-raiser includes a three-course dinner, drinks and entertainment.
Tickets: $195. Bookings: www.echogaladinner.com
