Every year, more than 600,000 critically ill or injured patients place their trust in the dedicated teams at Australia’s largest hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), and its rehabilitation partner, the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).   

That’s 600,000 reasons to give. Who’s your reason? 

It could be a precious family member, a dear friend, close work colleague – or someone like young Brisbane woman, Stephanie Alexander. 

Stephanie was just 25 years old when she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure, just days before her honeymoon in 2019.  

“The biggest and most difficult thing to come to terms with is that I won't be able to give birth to the children I spent my life dreaming of,” said Stephanie.  

“Creating a family is an option that this disease has taken away from my husband and me, and this just scratches the surface of how this terrible disease can impact people.”  

Stephanie is one of about 200 people diagnosed with heart failure each year. She remains an outpatient at RBWH, attending six-monthly checkups with her cardiology team. The hospital’s Heart Failure Clinic is also just a phone call away, should Stephanie need advice or support.  

“I thought all my symptoms of chest infection, ear infection and bronchitis were my body telling me I was stressed, even though I didn’t feel stressed,” said Stephanie. 

“It turned out I had to have an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) put in my chest, which is like my own little paramedic so if I go into an arrhythmia, it will give me a big shock and hopefully stop me having a cardiac event.” 

RBWH Senior Staff Cardiologist and researcher Associate Professor Sandhir Prasad said donating to research, to improve treatments and outcomes, was vital. 

“Heart failure is a killer disease; it causes so much suffering,” said Associate Professor Prasad.