Hello, my name is AJ Russell. I am writing on behalf of a friend to desperately needs help and is too proud to ask, typical Aussie bloke.

My friend Troy and his family are doing it tough.

Troy and his wife Gautami have been married seven years. They have a young son Dhruv. Due to medical issues they are struggling to survive.

So Troy is a roof tiler by trade, he is recently self-employed, he was let go from his company when the business owner's son came back into the business. So he decided to go out on his own. It takes time and hard work to get a name out there but he is slowly working on it. Unfortunately, the time factor is now against him, as I will explain.

Troy’s wife gave birth to a baby boy two years ago, Dhruv (pronounced Drewv). When he was born late 2020, Troy and Gautami were immensely happy, it was the beginning of a happy family life. A blessing.

Fate determined that wasn’t to be. Less than 2 weeks after returning home with their son, Gautami suffered a type B aortic dissection, which was a tear to the main artery of the body. Type B describes the lower aorta. This news was devastating as it is an acute condition. Acute dissections cause life-threatening symptoms and can require ongoing and emergency medical care.

She was rushed to hospital and the doctors were able to stabilise the tear and stop it spreading further. Such a life-threatening condition changed all of their lives. Gautami went from leading a fit and active lifestyle to not being able to pick up her beautiful baby boy. Her new reality was extremely limiting. At the time Troy quit his job to look after them both and it was an extremely challenging time.

The tear in the aorta needed constant check-ups of course to make sure it wasn’t reopening or spreading further and it was during these check-ups we learned that Gautami had a rare connective tissue disorder that (and the pregnancy) had been a major reason for the dissection.

For almost two years all check-ups pointed to a stabilising of the tear which was great news and the family were hopeful of moving on. Put the issue behind them. Troy & Gutami’s focus turned toward their son who we now know is on the spectrum. They have spent the last 18 months almost solely focussed on his assessments, at 2 years old he doesn’t talk. So speech therapists, Occupational therapy and other assistance was needed. I am glad to say his progress, while slow, has been moving forward and They love him immensely. Like any parent they just want to do whatever they can to ensure he gets the best outcome and to become his best self.

Just 3 weeks ago, Gautami woke up at 2am with a terrible chest pain. She was rushed to hospital and Troy received a call from the surgeons at 6am saying they needed to operate immediately as the upper and most important part of the aorta (now a type A) had torn (worse than the previous tear. Gautami needed open heart surgery.

The surgery was 13 hours long and they had to completely replace the upper aorta and reconnect some arteries. They also replaced the mitral valve with a mechanical one. Post-op Gautami was sent to ICU. The surgeons also discovered another issue, the left side major artery supplying blood to the brain was not functioning.

The left artery was hardened and had a big clot in it and they were needing to go back into surgery and close it off so the clot wouldn’t potentially go to her brain. During that operation they also found the right artery (now the only major artery supplying blood to the brain) had a small tear in it also.

They were told due to the connective tissue disorder and the close proximity to the brain, no intervention was possible as it would certainly either kill her or cause major brain damage.

This news has been devastating to their family. The surgeons confirmed that her condition is inoperable and acute. In all likelihood, terminal. There isn’t anything that they can surgically do, the risk is too high.

The prognosis is dire. With only one working artery supplying blood to her brain, and that vessel already torn, Gautami lives under a cloud. Her aorta is a time bomb waiting to go off. It could rupture anytime, there is no way to know how soon. 5 minutes, 5 weeks, maybe even 5 years, no one knows.

I know that they are trying to stay positive in the face of this devastating news, but I can see they are scared and depressed. Troy is holding tough and, as you would expect, bottling it all up to be brave.

The recovery seemed to be going well. Gautami was moved out of ICU after 10 days and moved to a ward. But has since developed complications. She developed a fever and her blood pressure dropped to life threatening levels. They conducted MRIs and found a growth on the chest. Back to theatre and they had to reopen her chest which required a chest drain and further treatments. to find out what it was. We hope and pray she can come home soon but we just don’t know.

Through this Troy hasn’t been able to work whilst looking after their son and travelling into hospital most days. Being self-employed has meant if he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid. They do not have any family support here in Australia. Gautami family all live abroad and Troy comes from broken home.

We have helped where we can, but their bills and mortgage payments just keep climbing, and with no income, compounded by the stress of a life-ending illness and constant care for their son, Things are really really hard.

She has an extremely long road in her recovery and she can’t look after herself or her son as she once did. Drew still needs to attend his appointments and Troy still needs to work to pay the mortgage and support his family.

So I am asking for your help. Even a few dollars would be great or if you could spruke his business at least he can get some income rolling in.

Thank you.