Super fit Australian tennis champion Todd Woodbridge has encouraged people to get a health check after suffering a heart attack last week.
The 51-year-old commentator who won 16 grand slam doubles titles with doubles partner Mark Woodforde has described the incident as a ‘wake-up call’ of the hidden dangers even for the fittest of middle-aged people.
Australian tennis champion Todd Woodbridge (pictured) has encouraged people to get a health check after suffering a mild heart attack last week
Woodbridge (pictured with doubles partner Mark Woodforde) is a 16-time grand slam doubles champion who has kept fit and healthy since he retired in 2005
At 51, Woodbridge is a year younger than Shane Warne when he had his fatal attack while a slew of other Australian sports figures have had heart attacks around that same age.
‘It was last Thursday, I tried to keep my routine having travelled to the US Open and London and I was just exercising and had chest pains and every symptom when you look up Google – full sweats and I felt awful,’ Woodbridge told the Herald.
‘I had a little heart episode that goes down as a mild heart attack which is a bit of a shock to me.
‘I consider (I) lead a pretty good fit healthy lifestyle – I keep active, I eat well, I do all the right things, I enjoy doing that.
‘It’s been a wake-up call to me to make sure I look after myself. If it can happen to me it shows that it can happen to anybody.’
Australian cricket hero and legendary leg-spinner, Shane Warne, died suddenly of a massive heart attack aged 52 while on holiday in Thailand
The event is the latest in a disturbing spate of heart attacks bringing down high profile Aussie athletes in their early 50s.
Cricket icon Shane Warne was 52 when he was found unresponsive in his luxury villa in Thailand after suffering a heart attack.
Just days later, former AFL star Dean Wallis, 52, suffered a major heart attack but survived the scare after he was rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery.
WA cricket great Ryan Campbell, 50, is also lucky to be alive after he was given just a seven per cent chance of survival after a cardiac arrest in April.
In May, West Coast Eagles premiership player Peter Matera, 53, suffered a heart attack while he was chopping wood on his property in Victoria. The AFL great was rushed to hospital where doctors put two stents placed in his heart.
Former Australian cricket coach and Test cricketer Darren Lehman also survived a heart attack in the early hours of his 50th birthday – and was thankfully saved by a triple bypass surgery
Former Australian cricket coach Darren Lehman also survived a heart attack in the early hours of his 50th birthday – and was thankfully saved by a triple bypass surgery.
Woodbridge, who retired from tennis in 2005, says he’s learned that family history has just as much bearing on susceptibility to heart attacks as personal health.
‘I’ve hit that age now where I need to make sure that I have regular testing, get to the doctors,’ he said.
‘I’d urge anybody out there coming off the last couple of years (of lockdowns), where we’ve gone, nah I’m OK, haven’t been to doctors, haven’t had check ups, to ensure you get out there and do that.
‘I’ve been fortunate enough to go and get all the tests and I’m OK. With good monitoring and a bit of mild medication moving forward, I’ll be fine.
West Coast Eagles great Peter Matera is lucky to be alive after suffering a severe heart attack in in May 2022. He played 253 games for the Eagles between 1990 and 2002 and in 2005 was named in the AFL’s Indigenous team of the century
‘But what I did learn was how important hereditary genes are to your health and I am aware that both my mum and dad have had a few issues with needing some stents and my dad had very high cholesterol. If I take care of that I have the ability to be fine into the future. But if you don’t take care of that you are putting yourself at risk.
‘My advice is don’t put off what you’ve been planning to do. Because I’d been planning to get my next bits of tests, we all lead a busy life and that becomes next month and then that becomes six months and you still haven’t done it and I was a bit guilty of that.
‘The best part is I’m back up and running. I need to take it easy, I can’t do anything physical but I’m still able to do my general work.’