Abdominal aortic aneurysm survivor: ‘Hundreds of NZers deserve the chance at a future that I’ve been given’

New Zealand Listener

4 Mar, 2026 05:06 PM3 mins to read

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Each year, abdominal aortic aneurysm kills up to 400 New Zealanders – nearly as many, if not more, than die in vehicle accidents – and yet most people have never heard of it. Image / Getty Images

January 4, 2026, was an unremarkable Sunday. A trip to a suburban mall to buy a gift for a new arrival in the whānau. A walk into the city to find a card. A meal, some television. Not much on, really. But at 10pm, everything changed.

My first reaction to
the excruciating back pain was that it must be just a spasm, but as I collapsed it became apparent something much more serious was afoot. Unbeknown to me, a weakness in the wall of my body’s largest artery had been slowly ballooning over many years. That night, the balloon burst, causing a massive internal haemorrhage. A few days before my 68th birthday, I lay dying on the lounge floor with no idea of what was happening. I had never heard of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

This type of event has a very high mortality rate. Many do not reach hospital, and a significant proportion of those who do lose their lives before, during or after surgery. My partner called 111 immediately, paramedics suspected the underlying event and prepared Wellington Hospital, just minutes away, for my arrival. Still conscious and in extreme pain, I was given an ultrasound and CT scan to confirm the diagnosis. I received a massive blood transfusion and the hospital’s vascular team prepped me for emergency surgery. I’m told at one point my blood pressure was 30 over next-to-nothing, but I survived. I’m a lucky man. Sadly, each year in New Zealand, up to 400 people will not share my good fortune.

The Vascular Society of New Zealand says these aneurysms account for 1.4% of deaths in men over the age of 65 and 0.5% of deaths in women. But rates are much higher for Māori (3.6% among men 60+), and higher for smokers and those with high blood pressure. Although women have a lower occurrence of it, they suffer a higher mortality rate.

A 2025 study of New Zealand rupture incidence in the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery says AAA causes “over 1000 hospitalisations annually”. It’s also expensive, with the highest cost per admission of any cardiovascular condition. The UK, Sweden and Germany provide AAA screening for all 65-year-old men – a low-cost, one-off ultrasound can identify aneurysms well before they’re likely to rupture. If one is found, it can be monitored and operated on if needed. Here in New Zealand, it seems we don’t even tell people it’s something to watch out for.

In 2024, the Health Research Council funded researchers to look into screening on the grounds there was strong evidence that it would be a cost-effective intervention to reduce mortality from AAA in New Zealand. In 2016, a programme was agreed to in principle by the National Screening Advisory Committee but not implemented. The investigators said these delays likely disadvantaged Māori and socioeconomically deprived communities.

AAA is a silent killer that takes a sad toll on our society that could be reduced. On economic measures alone, it seems clear screening would reduce that risk, but even education and outreach would make a difference. Each year, AAA takes as many lives as vehicle accidents and yet we have almost no awareness of it.

I have had a remarkable recovery thanks to the amazing health professionals at Wellington Hospital whose care saved my life.

Hundreds of New Zealanders deserve the chance at a future that I have been given. That shouldn’t come down to where you live and a roll of the dice.

Chris O’Brien is a Wellington-based consultant.

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