British Heart Foundation

[email protected] for Every Heartbeat 🫀 for Every Patient , Every Day

Kalaivani Mahadevan

Kalaivani Mahadevan

My Story

The Story:

In June 1992, my 45 year old father left home for work but never made it back. Sadly, he suffered a myocardial infarction [heart attack] and cardiac arrest whilst undertaking a daily work commute on the M27, between road construction sites.  As a civil engineer he had been helping to oversee the building of the A31 flyover in Ringwood and a bridge over the M27 in Paulsgrove, Portsmouth.

Motivated into Cardiology solely by his loss, and decades later an Interventional Cardiologist, my now daily commute to work along the M27, the same journey as his last, serves as a deeply rooted reminder of a Physician [and daughter's] moral duty to continually improve and to battle, fiercely and fearlessly, for safe, optimal patient care, now more than ever, in a struggling National Health Service. 

 

The Problem:

Cardiovascular disease [CVD] is the biggest cause of premature adult death in the world. Of this, coronary artery disease [also known as ischaemic heart disease, IHD] is the primary culprit. In 1992, there were no life saving procedures for cardiac arrest or heart attacks, as there are today. This incredible advancement in care, also known as percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI] is nothing short of miraculous. Driven by dedicated, passionate and purposeful, leaders and pioneers with the courage and resilience to break barriers and stoicly innovate, it has and continues to save many millions of lives globally.

However, rising CVD prevalence alongside a decade of underfunding has led to unmitigated strain on NHS services and gross regional inequalities in providing life-saving cardiovascular care. Ambulance delays, overloaded emergency departments, malfunctioning procedure labs, inequitable AHP renumeration leading to poor retention of skilled staff, and sadly, the failure of some healthcare leadership and administrative teams in acknowledging the critical cardiovascular investment needs of their own populations, are just some of the challenges faced on the frontline. These are unsurprisingly, compromising our ability as Multidisciplinary Heart Teams [Physicians, Surgeons and Allied Health Professionals] to meet the medical needs of our patients and pose a risk to the decades of positive progress made in cardiovascular medicine.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2024/january/early-heart-disease-deaths-rise-to-14-year-high 

 

The Purpose:

42@42 is a self-set personal goal of completing the 42km London Marathon at the ripe old age of 42 yrs after 10 months of physio for an  injury that led to deferral from last year...whether running, walking or crawling across the finish line....blessed with the unwavering support of an incredible family... in honour of all those who have lost their lives or lost a loved one prematurely to heart disease...and to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining safe and optimal standards of care in solidarity with all those currently living with heart disease.

 

Please Help:

The British Heart Foundation has been actively lobbying to raise political and public awareness and apply pressure at a national and health policy level regarding the desperate need for increased government investment into both preventive and life-saving cardiovascular care. It also funds imperative research via clinical trials across the UK allowing continued innovation in cardiovascular medicine, to reduce mortality and morbidity from CVD. 

Please, please support them by donating to help them in their efforts to help us improve cardiovascular care in the UK – because you never know when you or your loved one will become that patient, who desperately needs it. 

PS - The additional platform charge is voluntary and can be ammended to any amount including zero. 

 #HeartsNeedMore #FightForEveryHeartbeat #Funding4CVD #LetsBeatIHD  #PreventionOverCure #Daughter4Father

  

 

 

British Heart Foundation

Raising for:

British Heart Foundation
62%

Funded

  • Target
    £10K
  • Raised so far
    £6,150
  • Number of donors
    59

My Story

The Story:

In June 1992, my 45 year old father left home for work but never made it back. Sadly, he suffered a myocardial infarction [heart attack] and cardiac arrest whilst undertaking a daily work commute on the M27, between road construction sites.  As a civil engineer he had been helping to oversee the building of the A31 flyover in Ringwood and a bridge over the M27 in Paulsgrove, Portsmouth.

Motivated into Cardiology solely by his loss, and decades later an Interventional Cardiologist, my now daily commute to work along the M27, the same journey as his last, serves as a deeply rooted reminder of a Physician [and daughter's] moral duty to continually improve and to battle, fiercely and fearlessly, for safe, optimal patient care, now more than ever, in a struggling National Health Service. 

 

The Problem:

Cardiovascular disease [CVD] is the biggest cause of premature adult death in the world. Of this, coronary artery disease [also known as ischaemic heart disease, IHD] is the primary culprit. In 1992, there were no life saving procedures for cardiac arrest or heart attacks, as there are today. This incredible advancement in care, also known as percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI] is nothing short of miraculous. Driven by dedicated, passionate and purposeful, leaders and pioneers with the courage and resilience to break barriers and stoicly innovate, it has and continues to save many millions of lives globally.

However, rising CVD prevalence alongside a decade of underfunding has led to unmitigated strain on NHS services and gross regional inequalities in providing life-saving cardiovascular care. Ambulance delays, overloaded emergency departments, malfunctioning procedure labs, inequitable AHP renumeration leading to poor retention of skilled staff, and sadly, the failure of some healthcare leadership and administrative teams in acknowledging the critical cardiovascular investment needs of their own populations, are just some of the challenges faced on the frontline. These are unsurprisingly, compromising our ability as Multidisciplinary Heart Teams [Physicians, Surgeons and Allied Health Professionals] to meet the medical needs of our patients and pose a risk to the decades of positive progress made in cardiovascular medicine.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2024/january/early-heart-disease-deaths-rise-to-14-year-high 

 

The Purpose:

42@42 is a self-set personal goal of completing the 42km London Marathon at the ripe old age of 42 yrs after 10 months of physio for an  injury that led to deferral from last year...whether running, walking or crawling across the finish line....blessed with the unwavering support of an incredible family... in honour of all those who have lost their lives or lost a loved one prematurely to heart disease...and to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining safe and optimal standards of care in solidarity with all those currently living with heart disease.

 

Please Help:

The British Heart Foundation has been actively lobbying to raise political and public awareness and apply pressure at a national and health policy level regarding the desperate need for increased government investment into both preventive and life-saving cardiovascular care. It also funds imperative research via clinical trials across the UK allowing continued innovation in cardiovascular medicine, to reduce mortality and morbidity from CVD. 

Please, please support them by donating to help them in their efforts to help us improve cardiovascular care in the UK – because you never know when you or your loved one will become that patient, who desperately needs it. 

PS - The additional platform charge is voluntary and can be ammended to any amount including zero. 

 #HeartsNeedMore #FightForEveryHeartbeat #Funding4CVD #LetsBeatIHD  #PreventionOverCure #Daughter4Father