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4 AUGUST, 2021
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Jason a king of kings
(Damjan Janevski) 245451_03
Jason Grech is helping community members who are doing it tough. For the past six months the owner of King Of Kings Butchery in Wyndham Vale has donated meat products to the operators of Facebook group, We are all in this together Wyndham, which supplies food hampers to vulnerable residents. The group, which was set up by local residents Linda, Michelle and Vig, also allows members to ask for help with items such as food, clothing and blankets. “I really appreciated what they are doing and wanted to help,” Mr Grech said. “Someone did that for me when I was younger, and it’s just something I want to do.” Mr Grech also regularly donates meat to a Wyndham Vale community pantry to help families who need a hand. “You have got to be the change you want to see, that’s how I see the world,” he said. Every year he donates meat to the Uncle Bobs Club, a charity that assists hospitals, other institutions and children, for its annual Christmas event. Alesha Capone
Study of COVID survivors By Alesha Capone The Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute (BHDI) in Hoppers Crossing is embarking on a $2.5 million study of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on heart health. The study, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, is being led by Dr Erin Howden and Professor Tom Marwick. Their aim is to understand whether COVID-19 damages the heart’s chambers and blood vessels, and impacts a heart’s functional capacity. It will also examine if best practice management, such as medication and exercise
training, can help restore this function in COVID-19 survivors. “There has been huge variation in the scientific literature to date on the cardiovascular impacts of COVID-19 in Europe, but we have no idea what the patterns look like in Australia,” Professor Marwick said. The BHDI hopes to recruit 1000 people who have had COVID-19 to take part in the study. Derrimut father Abhi Nair, 42, who contracted COVID-19 last June, has signed up to participate. His wife Dhara Rajyaguru, mother Lalitha Nair and father Viswanathan Nair also developed coronavirus last year.
Viswanathan, 74, spent 120 days in hospital with the illness. Abhi, who is unsure where he contracted the virus, was hospitalised twice and spent weeks feeling ill. The family spent a month isolating. Abhi said that COVID-19 had been a “nightmare” for his family, especially when his father – who had no underlying health conditions – was hospitalised. “As he was taken to the ambulance … I had a bad feeling and thought: ‘Am I ever going to see him again?’” Abhi said. He said that before COVID-19, Viswanathan was an active man who enjoyed walking and gardening. Nowadays he did not move much
and became tired easily. “COVID is real and it hits families hard,” Abhi said. Abhi said he was fairly healthy before getting COVID, and could run five kilometres. He now has breathing issues and experiences difficulty when climbing a set of stairs. Hei said this was one of his main motivations for taking part in the BHDI study, plus a desire to help researchers understand the long-term effects of coronavirus. Study participants will be required to undergo cardiac scans and exercise testing. Details: https://baker.edu.au/research/ clinical-trials/perceive-study
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