An ultra quick stent left John with a long-lived aspiration to pay it forward

Published: 26 November 2025

When John suffered a completely unexpected heart attack, he was blown away with the efficiency and care of the medical team who treated him. Seeing just what an amazing impact health professionals make, he was inspired to give back in the Big Heart Appeal street collection.

John never expected to have a heart attack.

“I had absolutely no inkling anything was wrong,” he recalls. “But before long, I was in the hospital. It all happened very quickly.”

He couldn’t believe how soon he was able to be treated. Within three hours of the onset of his heart attack, John had been fitted with a stent.

“It was very efficient. It’s almost like a TV drama. You arrive at the hospital where a team is waiting for you. You get slapped on a table, cables put in and all over you, and they measure you up. Then they say, ‘right, we’re doing a stent’, pop it in your wrist and away you go!”

Thanks to this care, John felt he had a second chance in life.

“It was a life-changing experience, certainly,” he says. It opened his eyes to the importance of heart health and the organisations working tirelessly to save lives. While recovering, John visited the Heart Foundation website for information and discovered an opportunity to volunteer for the Big Heart Appeal. “I thought, ‘okay, I can do that.’”

Despite being retired, John and his wife still enjoy being active in their local community, and he considered volunteering in the Big Heart Appeal street collection a great way to connect with their neighbours.

“It’s always interesting to talk to new people, and see who will come up and say hello,” he says. “Some people ignored us, but many came up and said, ‘I support you.’ That always feels good!”

And while John had an incredible experience within the healthcare system, he knows that it’s often challenging to resource every need – especially larger projects, like heart research. That’s why he encourages others to volunteer in the Big Heart Appeal street collection and help raise life-saving funds.

“If all of us make one small contribution, it amounts to quite a lot,” he says. “There’s a huge need for financial support and it can’t all be covered by the government. Plus, statistically, you’ve either already got a heart condition, know someone who does, or will do in the future. It’s one of New Zealand’s leading health issues.”

“Helping now means more research, better treatment, and more lives saved.”