Australian tennis great Todd Woodbridge details shocking health ordeal

Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge has stressed the importance of remaining on top of your health after the 51-year-old suffered a heart attack recently.

The sporting icon revealed the shocking news that he started experiencing heart attack symptoms while working out at his home on Thursday, October 6.

“I’d done a bit of a warm-up, started to do some weights, and I got a bit of a feeling, like one finger being pushed into the middle of my chest,” he revealed to Wide World of Sports.

“I tried to shake it out, like you do sometimes, thinking it’s come from working out, but it wouldn’t go away.

“It started to spread across my chest. It wasn’t pain, it was like a heavy pressing. I was short of breath, got the sweats, I felt nausea which made me go pale white.”

Although the episode only lasted a short time, Woodbridge stated that “it was a big enough episode” to make him visit the hospital.

“I knew it wasn’t just something minor,” he said.

“But I think a lot of people will just think, it will be right. Don’t do that, for heaven’s sake.

“Thirty minutes later I felt OK, but my bloodwork showed I’d had a mild heart attack.

While Woodbridge reportedly didn’t experience any symptoms or warning signs prior to his heart attack he did concede that he had been ignoring a family history of high cholesterol.

“One of the things that really stood out when I was going through all my tests is that I had really high cholesterol,” he said.

“I sort of knew I would have that, but I hadn’t done anything about it over the last couple of years.”

Woodbridge said the incident was a wake-up call to make his health a priority and has urged Australians to do the same, if not for themselves then for their loved ones.

“The message is don’t put off what you’ve been saying you’ll do. A day becomes a week, which becomes a month, then six months and before you know it a year has gone by and you haven’t done what you need to do for your health,” he said.

“The most important thing to remember is you need to do it not just for yourself, but for your family and your friends.

“They are the ones who’ll take it hard if something does happen.”

Thank you to @toddwoodbridge for sharing your story in the hopes that many others will act to better understand their risk of heart disease and take action on how to reduce it ❤️@7NewsMelbourne @garryjennings https://t.co/VYXqqH5aea

— Heart Foundation (@heartfoundation) October 13, 2022

According to the recently released Cholesterol Roadblocks and Solutions report from the Heart Foundation, high cholesterol is the leading risk factor for heart attack in Australia which is estimated to affect 6.5 million adults.

Alarmingly, those with high cholesterol may remain unaware of the issue given there are no obvious symptoms.

National Manager of Health Research and Innovation at the Heart Foundation, Erin Bowen said “that millions of Australians could be unaware that they have high-cholesterol and therefore at greater risk of heart attack in the coming years.”

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.