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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 titles with doubles partner Mark Woodforde has described the incident as a ‘wake-up call’ to the hidden dangers, even for the strongest 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 champion in doubles who has remained fit and healthy since retiring in 2005
At 51, Woodbridge is a year younger than Shane Warne when he suffered his fatal seizure, while a slew of other Australian sports figures around the same age have had heart attacks.
“It was last Thursday, I was trying to keep up my routine after traveling to the US Open and London and I was just working out and had chest pain and every symptom if you googled – full of sweat and I felt terrible,” Woodbridge told the Herald.
“I had a minor heart attack that progressed to a mild heart attack, which is a bit of a shock to me.
“I consider (I) lead a pretty well-fitting healthy lifestyle – I stay active, I eat right, I do the right things, I like to do that.”
“It’s been a wake-up call for me to make sure I’m taking care of myself. If it can happen to me, it shows that it can happen to anyone.”
Australian cricket hero and legendary leg spinner, Shane Warne, died suddenly of a massive heart attack at the age of 52 while on holiday in Thailand
The event is the latest in a disturbing wave of heart attacks that is taking down leading Aussie athletes in their early fifties.
Cricket icon Shane Warne was 52 when he became unresponsive at his luxury villa in Thailand after suffering a heart attack.
Just days later, former AFL star Dean Wallis, 52, suffered a massive heart attack but survived the shock after being rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery.
WA cricket great Ryan Campbell, 50, is also lucky to be alive after being given a mere 7% chance of survival following cardiac arrest in April.
In May, West Coast Eagles Prime Minister Peter Matera, 53, suffered a heart attack while chopping wood on his property in Victoria. The AFL great was rushed to hospital where doctors placed two stents 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 luckily saved by triple bypass surgery
Former Australian cricket coach Darren Lehman also survived a heart attack in the early hours of his 50th birthday – luckily saved by triple bypass surgery.
Woodbridge, who retired from tennis in 2005, says he has learned that family history affects heart attack susceptibility as much as personal health.
“I’ve now reached that age where I have to make sure I have regular tests, go to the doctors,” he said.
“I would urge anyone who has come in the last few years (of lockdowns), where we’ve gone, no, I’m fine, haven’t been to doctors, haven’t had any checkups, to make sure you get out there and do Which.
“I’ve been lucky enough to do all the tests and I’m fine. With good control and a little mild medication in the future, I’ll be fine.
West Coast Eagles great Peter Matera is lucky to be alive after suffering a serious heart attack in May 2022. He played 253 games for the Eagles between 1990 and 2002 and was named in the AFL’s Indigenous Team of the Century in 2005
“But what I have learned is how important hereditary genes are to your health and I am aware that both my father and mother have had a few problems placing stents and that my father had very high cholesterol. If I take care of that, I have the opportunity to do well in the future. But if you don’t take care of that, you’re putting yourself in danger.
‘My advice is: don’t put off what you planned to do. Because I was planning to do my next bits of testing we all have busy lives and that’s going to be next month and then that’s going to be six months and you still haven’t done it and I was kind of guilty of that.
“The best thing is that I’m back to work. I have to take it easy, physically I can’t do anything, but I can still do my general work.’