Born with a serious heart defect, Charlie (3) has had three open-heart surgery procedures.
This month, he is the face of an annual appeal for the charity HeartKids, which raises money for affected families.
Charlie is the "local hero" for the Otago-Southland area.
His father, Alan Ryall, of Dunedin, said the family spent four months in Auckland when Charlie was a newborn, and it changed their outlook on life.
Mr Ryall, who is a HeartKids national board member, said dealing with a child’s heart defect exacted a significant toll emotionally and financially.
The organisation raised money to help with the "little things", such as a load of firewood, or meal packages.
It matched families with others going through similar experiences, and organised social occasions.
Mr Ryall, who is self-employed, said he had to deal with a significant loss of income during the time he spent in Auckland with Charlie.
The organisation could not compensate families for lost income, but the support it provided was invaluable.
"We had no idea until we had Charlie.‘‘It’s changed us as people. We’ve got a lot more empathy," Mr Ryall said.
His mother, Mel Ryall, said Charlie, who has hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, had defied the odds by steadily gaining weight, and was more active than expected.
Every week, 12 children are born with heart defects in New Zealand.
A street collection will be held today in Dunedin and other centres.
