Make a Life-Changing Impact This Christmas

Maria was caught off guard by heart disease. Last year, her life was turned upside down when she suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night. 

Despite having no traditional symptoms like chest pain or arm discomfort, Maria knew something was wrong when she was struggling to breathe. She called an ambulance before she lost consciousness. 

At 68 years old, Maria underwent emergency triple bypass surgery. Then, a mere three hours after the surgeons closed her chest, her valves burst and she had to be operated on again. 

When Maria woke up two days later, she couldn’t remember what happened, where she lived, or even what her phone number was. “It was alienating,” Maria recalls. 

Over a year later, Maria lives with the fear that another heart attack could strike at any time. You can help. 

Dr Mergen Ghayesh is a mechanical engineer from the University of Adelaide, who has teamed up with cardiologist Associate Professor Peter Psaltis from the Central Adelaide Local Health Network and SAHMRI and other collaborators. 

Together the team is working on an exciting new project to develop more targeted, personalised approaches to better predict plaque growth and hence secondary heart attacks, which will potentially be lifesaving for people like Maria. 

The team hopes that understanding plaque growth can prevent and predict secondary heart attacks, saving lives. 

“Understanding plaque growth enables clinicians to manage the progression of coronary artery disease, facilitating timely interventions and tailoring treatment strategies,” says Dr Ghayesh. 

Your support can make this groundbreaking research a reality. 

One in five patients who have had a heart attack will be readmitted to hospital for a secondary heart attack within five years of their first. 

Research is crucial to our mission to find new ways to prevent, treat and beat heart disease, but we need kind-hearted people like you in our corner. 

Maria’s story is a reminder that heart disease can strike anyone, anytime. “You never think it’s going to happen to you,” says Maria. “Even if you are 60 or 70, you are still entitled to life and the skill of these wonderfully gifted researchers.” 

Will you join the fight against heart disease this Christmas?