Todd Woodbridge reveals heart attack scare in 'awful' ordeal

Aussie tennis legend Todd Woodbridge has revealed he suffered a 'mild' heart attack last week, speaking out about his ordeal in a warning to others.

Woodbridge told the Herald Sun he was 'shocked' when he started experiencing chest pains and other symptoms during a daily workout regime.

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The 16-times grand slam doubles champion and one-time top-20 singles star regularly works out in his home gym in Melbourne and also keeps active while away commentating at tournaments.

“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,” he said.

“I had a little heart episode that goes down as a mild heart attack which is a bit of a shock to me.

“And you’re personally still coming to terms with somebody like myself who I consider to 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.”

Woodbridge said during an interview with 3AW radio on Thursday that he “didn’t think it was going to happen to me”.

“My dad carried a pretty heavy cholesterol issue, I have that, and as we spoke about in (podcast) What Makes You Tick, I lost both of my brothers in their 50s,” he said.

The 51-year-old responded to a fan on Twitter: “My family genetics dictated that I would have cholesterol issues and that was a major cause of my episode."

Tood Woodbridge becomes latest heart attack victim

Woodbridge said he considers himself lucky after becoming the latest high-profile Australian to suffer a heart attack in their 50s.

Cricket legend Shane Warne died earlier this year at just 52 after suffering a heart attack in Thailand.

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching also died in March at the same age from a sudden heart attack.

Essendon's AFL premiership player Dean Wallis underwent surgery this year after a major heart attack, also at 52, while former Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann survived a heart attack on his 50th birthday in 2020.

Woodbridge's two brothers both died in their 50s, leaving him extra cautious about his own 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'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.

"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."

Fans reacted with shock to the news on social media, with some labelling it 'sad' and 'awful'.

with AAP

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