'Dinosaur man': Brother's death helped save adviser's life
Niche IFA director and Chartered financial planner Ray Adams underwent life-saving heart treatment in November following the death of his brother earlier this year.
Adams, who also founded cashflow planning software company CashCalc, visited St Joseph's Hospital in Newport, Wales, for a full heart check-up after his brother Jerry Adams died aged 58 on 28 August from Coronary Artery Disease. His father also suffered a heart attack at the same age.
Jerry Adams was best known for purchasing a 15ft, life-sized dinosaur for charity and keeping it in his front garden in Welsh town Cwmbran, a stunt that attracted international media attention. Jerry also took the beast up and down the country for people to see at various events.
Following a CT Coronary Angiogram, doctors at St Joseph's found Ray Adams had two severe narrowings in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery of his heart. Commonly known as the ‘widow maker', the narrowings can severely obstruct blood flow, leading to heart attacks.
Further tests at the Royal Gwent Hospital, this time a Cardiac Angiogram, confirmed the severity of narrowings. The test involved inserting a small wire into the radial artery in the wrist, and feeding it through into the heart, using x-ray imaging to see restrictions in blood vessels.
It was decided the best course of action was to fit a ‘stent' - a small mesh tube inserted into the artery - which expands to help keep the blood flowing. During surgery, a stent measuring 38mm long was inserted into Adams's LAD artery of the heart, which restored blood flow to 100%.
Niche IFA director Adams said: "Even though I showed no symptoms whatsoever, what happened to Jerry was the catalyst for getting myself checked out. I couldn't wait any longer. You could say Jerry's last gift to me was to save my life, because if I wasn't prompted to visit St Joseph's and undergo the fantastic work they do, I probably wouldn't be here in three years' time."
According to the British Heart Foundation, heart and circulatory diseases accounted for more than a quarter (28%) of all UK under-75s deaths each year. There are around 7.4 million people living with these diseases in the UK.
Adams added: "I therefore consider myself very fortunate to have been diagnosed and treated, so I hope sharing my experience can help raise awareness and encourage others to get checked out."
