By the time Kathryn Johns turned 40, she had survived two heart attacks.

It’s a confronting reality, especially for someone who had no major health issues, lived an active life, working as a nurse and a mother of two young children.

Her first heart attack struck in the early hours on a summer’s morning. Kathryn had just popped her toddler back to sleep when she felt a strange pressure in her chest.

“I thought it was indigestion,” she says. “But after 30 minutes, the pain hadn’t gone. I knew something wasn’t right.”

Kathryn drove herself to University Hospital Geelong, where she quickly found herself in the cardiac catheter lab. A stent was placed in her heart that morning, giving her critical lifesaving treatment.

Just over a year later, it happened again. This time, her husband called an ambulance. The original stent had blocked completely, and another artery was severely narrowed. It was a more serious situation, but once again, the speed and skill of Barwon Health’s University Hospital Geelong’s critical care team saved her life.

As a tertiary regional hospital, University Hospital Geelong plays a vital role in providing complex, time-critical care for people living across the Barwon South West. “I wouldn’t be here without the care I received at Barwon Health,” Kathryn says.

Her experience is far from isolated. Across the region, patients enter critical care every day, after heart attacks, strokes, accidents, or sudden illness. Having access to Barwon Health’s quality care, expert staff and world-class equipment can help create positive outcomes. Heart disease remains one of Australia’s leading causes of death, with one life lost every 80 minutes. But behind each statistic is a story like Kathryn’s.

As tax time approaches, many Australians consider how they might make a meaningful impact and create their own legacy, while also receiving a tax deduction. For our region, there's a powerful opportunity to do both, by supporting the Barwon Health Foundation’s 2025 Critical Care Appeal.

We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target for the 2025 appeal. Our goal is to fund additional lifesaving equipment for University Hospital Geelong’s Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, and Cardiac Ward. Every donation to the Critical Care Appeal, no matter the size, ensures that more families like Kathryn’s can access lifesaving care close to home.

I’m pleased to say that Kathryn now spends her days doing what many take for granted - making school lunches, going to work, watching her children play sport. Two moments changed the course of her life. The critical care she received from Barwon Health helped to bring her safely through both.

And that, she says, is something worth thinking about.

Zoe Waters
Executive Director
Barwon Health Foundation

Kathryn Johns and her family