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Ray Stankevich was a prominent figure in Mandurah who owned an X-ray practice on Anstruther Road.
Like many of us, Ray worked hard and put in long hours at work.
This busy life often makes us neglect some of the signs our body is trying to tell us when things may not be as they should.
For Ray, he suddenly started to get pain in his back.
When he complained of feeling cold, he put it down to fever.
One morning at work the pain intensified in his back, and Ray decided to lie down.
After an hour without improvement, he requested to be taken to hospital.
Unfortunately Ray did not even make the short trip, dying of a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is the dilatation of the main artery that travels down the middle of our body.
As we age, this has the potential to dilate to a point where it starts to leak or, in fact, rupture.
This then causes internal bleeding and can lead to death.
In Ray’s case it is even more ironic because to diagnose an abdominal aneurysm requires an ultrasound.
Ray could have had that ultrasound any day at his own X-ray rooms.
Once diagnosed with an abdominal aneurysm, people are usually monitored under the guide of a vascular surgeon, making sure its size does not move into the range where it could rupture.
If an aneurysm is large enough to be threatening, surgery can be done to prevent the aorta from rupture.
Dying from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm can be preventable by having a 10-minute ultrasound.
Ultrasound Services is having its annual free screening service for abdominal aortas in memory of Ray.
Call for an appointment or just turn up on the day.
Priority will be given to those people with an appointment.
- Ray Stankevich Aorta Screening Service
- Free Abdominal Aorta Ultrasound
- Mandurah Rooms Unit 5/19 Davey Street Mandurah
- Saturday, May 20, 2017
- Phone 08 9583 5199
