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Your donation will help us to fund vital research into the causes and effects of aortic aneurysms, why they form and how to predict their expansion and rupture.

Save a Life this Christmas

Please support us this giving season

For many of us, Christmas is a time of happiness and joy, time spent with our families and friends, good food and long days at the beach, but for those people living with heart and lung disease and their families, this is often not the case. Your gift to The Baird Institute’s Christmas Appeal will have the power to transform so many lives.

Because of you Mark Bowyer is able to spend this Christmas with his friends and family after having recently undergone and survived major heart surgery, as a result of having suffered an aortic dissection. Mark’s life was saved by one of our surgeons, Dr Benjamin Robinson, at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH).  Let me share his story with you on the following pages.

Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Disease is rapidly becoming one of the most common but silent killers in Western society. In fact, with many unknowns, we may all be at a risk!

Did you know that 40% of people with ascending aortic dissections, like Mark, die instantly?

However up to 90% of the remaining patients can be saved with emergency surgery – if they can quickly get to a hospital like RPAH that provides advanced cardiac surgery.

Read Mark’s story and you will see that he was in excellent health, until he was struck by a condition that he had never heard of.

We could be Mark. We just don’t know until it happens!

Through the research that you fund, The Baird Institute is attempting to answer many difficult questions around aortic aneurysms in addition to determining the role of genetics and other factors in their development. We are currently doing research into the formation and rupture of aneurysms using technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) while the establishment of our Aortic Tissue Bank and Database has allowed for research into cardiac disease processes and surgical care.

The enormous importance of research in terms of understanding the genetic nature of aortic aneurysm and aortic disease, enables us as surgeons to not only provide enhanced patient care, but it also increases the likelihood of avoiding the passage of this disease to the next generation. This is our greatest wish and that of many who suffer from this disease.

There is so much more to be done and I know you believe, as much as I do, in this research.

This is why I am writing to you today…

Your past support has enabled this research but there is more to be done. This Christmas we want to save even more lives like Mark’s. With this disease rapidly becoming one of the most common but silent killers, time is of the essence.

Your generous Christmas gift of $50, $200 or $500 will go directly towards discovering what the causes and effects of aortic aneurysms are, why they form and how to predict their expansion and rupture.

Your gift will have a direct impact on people like Mark and on the health of more than 1/3 of Australia’s population, so please support us today. 

This Christmas give the best gift of all – the gift of life.

Every heartbeat matters, every breath’s important, every dollar helps...

With thanks and gratitude.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Paul Bannon
MB BS, FRACS, PhD
Chair, The Baird Institute

Mark's Story

My name is Mark Bowyer and I survived major heart surgery after suffering an aortic aneurysm.

“The Baird Institute’s work in support of research and professional development has helped build the medical knowledge and skills that saved my life.”

– Mark Bowyer

I have an unusual health history. I tend to enjoy abnormally good health most of the time. Until a serious health issue intervenes.

I’ve lived much of the past 30 years in Vietnam, often in remote places, and I’ve barely seen a doctor there. But in that same 30 years, I’ve suffered two bouts of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and in 2014, my appendix ruptured. Both illnesses were treated in Australia.

This time, in this strange year, 2020, a long period of excellent health was broken when I suffered an aortic dissection – a condition I’d never heard of until it struck me. You don’t have to search far online to discover an aortic dissection isn’t a good thing.

Back in May, I was stranded in Sydney because of COVID. I’ve long been a big swimmer and I made daily swims at Neilsen Park on Sydney Harbour, part of my COVID routine. I was feeling great. Fitter than ever.

On May 4, after a glorious late afternoon swim, I headed back to my home in Stanmore for dinner. After dinner I started to feel pain in my stomach, back and neck. It was unpleasant but not unbearable. At first, I thought it was something I’d eaten. After 8 hours of waiting at home and hoping it would go away, I decided it might be serious and headed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH)…

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Honour a Loved One

  • Fundraise in memory of someone special to you.

Challenge Yourself

  • Run a marathon
  • Do a long bike ride
  • Walk 10km each day for a month
  • Do 50 sit ups every day for a week
  • Join an organised event such as the City to Surf

Organise a community event

  • Have a backyard sausage sizzle
  • Host a trivia night

Seek sponsorship to help you quit those bad habits

  • Give up smoking
  • Refrain from alcohol for a month or more

Celebrate Through Giving

  • Choose to give on your birthday: Instead of giving you gifts, ask your friends and family to donate to The Baird Institute.
  • Say “I do” to improving the lives of heart and lung patients: Invite guests to donate to The Baird Institute on your wedding day
  • Turn anniversaries or personal milestones into fundraising events.

Create a CrowdRaiser on GiveNow

  1. Go to CrowdRaiser for The Baird Institute.
  2. Click on the button “Fundraise for this cause” – just under the header image.
  3. Create your Crowdraiser. Fill in the requested details.
  4. Customise your campaign. Add images and messages to make your CrowdRaiser unique.
  5. Share the link to your fundraising page via email, social media, or any way you like.
  6. Let us know via [email protected] that you have created a fundraiser so we can say thank you.

Join a community passionate about making a difference. GiveNow provides a dedicated platform for Australian charities, ensuring your efforts directly support our mission.

Start a Facebook Fundraiser

  1. Go to Facebook fundraisers.
  2. Click on the blue button – “Select nonprofit”
  3. Search for and select The Baird Institute
  4. Set your fundraising target
  5. Choose your campaign end date & a title for your Fundraiser
  6. Personalise your fundraiser: Use the existing wording and photos or choose your own.
  7. Click on ‘Create’.
  8. Invite friends and family. Share the link for your fundraiser and encourage others to contribute.
  9. Let us know via [email protected] that you have created a fundraiser so we can say thank you.

Celebrate where your friends and family connect. Leverage your social network to make a real impact.