The legacy of a Perth businessman who died suddenly from a heart attack five years ago will live on in a new research laboratory opening at the University of WA next month.
The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute will unveil the Ben Beale Laboratory in Cardiovascular Research – named after the Aqua Technics heir who died in 2017 at the age of 47 while holidaying with family in Dunsborough.
The father of five was jogging one morning when witnesses saw him collapse on the footpath. Several people rushed to help including a local doctor who assisted with CPR until paramedics arrived.
But Mr Beale could not be revived and was later pronounced dead at Busselton Regional Hospital.
He was unaware he was suffering from atherosclerosis, which can have no obvious symptoms.
Mr Beale was the public face of the swimming pool empire built by his father Lew, appearing in the company’s TV advertisements. His death came just weeks before he was due to take part in a charity boxing match for which he had shed more than 10kg in the previous two months.
He had been medically cleared for the match and his death was originally described as a ‘one-off catastrophic event’.
But an investigation of Mr Beale’s medical history by Professor Jason Kovacic from the Victor Chang institute, who is a world expert on atherosclerosis, shed new light on what potentially caused his heart attack.
Professor Kovacic was able to identify the possibility that Mr Beale had an increase in the cholesterol-related particle Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The institute’s scientists have identified critical pathways that are key in driving this build-up of plaque that leads to the hardening of the arteries.
This world-first research now has the potential to pave the way for new treatments that would effectively ‘deactivate’ this pathway before it can cause devastating damage like a heart attack.
Ben’s wife Sarah is urging people to get behind the new laboratory, which is due to open on April 24, by joining the Group of Hearts to fund the much-needed research.
“Ben was at the peak of his fitness and health and had no idea he was suffering from a disease which takes far too many lives,” she said.
“Levels of Lp(a) are strongly determined by genetic factors, and that means that our five children can now be tested for their levels of Lp(a) and be monitored closely.”
Professor Livia Hool, who heads the institute’s research centre in WA, said the aim was to stop disease from occurring in the first place. “That would be transformative in the treatment of heart disease,” she said.
ED: Keep an eye out for the upcoming April edition of Medical Forum, which focuses on heart health, including the role of Lipoprotein(a) in heart attacks.