“My dad could have died early like my grandpa. I or any of my brothers could have as well. But we haven’t. And it is all because of research made possible by the people at The Baird Institute.”
We all have a first memory from our childhood. Often, they are of special places, special events, or special people. Most often, they’re happy memories.
I have one as well. But it is a little bit different…
I was seven years old, and things in my house weren’t quite right. I could feel it. Pain and anxiety filled the air. It seemed to be everywhere. My extended family and all our friends were at the house around the clock.
But there was one person who wasn’t… My dad!
While my dad eventually did come home, it took him a while to get back to his old self. A few months in fact.
And this was when our family “ritual” began. Each year, like clockwork, my parents would take me and two of my brothers to Westmead Children’s Hospital, where we went through a battery of tests.
I didn’t understand it all then, but I do now.
As I grew older, I started asking questions about those trips. Memories of what happened to my dad came sharply into focus, and I had an anxious feeling that I was destined to go through the same thing.
It all started making sense. My grandpa died in Lebanon when he was 30 years old. We didn’t know why at the time. We know now.
You see, we all have something called Marfan syndrome. It’s a genetic disorder affecting the body’s connective tissue and arteries, leading to the development of aneurysms. These silent and insidious bulges along the arterial walls bear no symptoms, yet they hold a grim potential: if they grow too large and burst, it can lead to sudden and unexpected death—a fate my father nearly met.
My dad could have died early like my grandpa. I or any of my brothers could have as well. But we haven’t. And it is all because of research made possible by the people at The Baird Institute. They have heart, you know!
You may not know a lot about The Baird Institute, but let me tell you, they have been saving lives since 2001 by making radical improvements in heart and lung surgery. The surgeons who are associated with our Institute work at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a variety of private hospitals across Sydney.
Thanks to places like The Baird Institute, we know a lot more than we did years ago. Doctors now have world-class cardiac research at their hands. But The Baird Institute cannot continue its groundbreaking AND lifesaving research without your help. You see, it doesn’t receive large government research grants or private foundation dollars. The kind of research that the institute does goes far beyond what these funders will allow and make possible. It relies on people just like me and you.
For people like me, it is easy; I owe The Baird Institute my life.
I’m writing to ask you to reach into your heart and make a special end of financial year tax-deductible gift to The Baird Institute today—as much as you are able—to help the institute continue its critical lifesaving research.
Your contribution to this appeal will fund the use of spatial transcriptomics, a cutting-edge technology which analyses the effectiveness of artery repairs right down to the gene level. This vital work hinges on ensuring that our newly developed artery replicates healthy artery function. The researchers have told me that this technology is extremely expensive, and they are looking to raise $156,000 in order to fund this important stage of the research. Guaranteeing the success of this work could save even more lives like mine. With your support, medical interventions can be even more fine-tuned to a patient’s needs, thus producing superior outcomes.
No matter the size, every single gift is appreciated and will be put directly to work by The Baird Institute.
From time to time, I think about what my life would have been like had my dad decided not to emigrate to Australia all those years ago. He wouldn’t be with us today, and likely, neither would I nor my brothers. My grandpa didn’t get the same chance that I did. That’s why places like The Baird Institute matter so much.
Those are the first memories that I have. Maybe sometime in the future, another child won’t have to have something similar as their first memories.
I ask you, at the end of this financial year, to please consider giving to The Baird Institute so they can reach their goal of $156,000 to fund their cutting-edge research using spatial transcriptomics technology.
With my greatest thanks to you and for all you have made possible, including my very own life.
Yours Sincerely,
Ahmad T. Chaker
P.S. Every year at this time, I do two things. I give thanks for my life, and I make a financial year-end gift to The Baird Institute to help even more people like me because its world-class, groundbreaking research saved my life and those I love. And now The Baird Institute needs me—and you!
