I thought it was Game over after my heart attack...
RTE star Michael Lyster has opened up about how he cheated death after a heart attack revealing he had less than a 10% chance of surviving.
The Sunday Game host, 64, who is set to cover his last All-ireland football final this weekend before retiring, said he did not think he would have another three years in broadcasting after his scare.
Lyster, from Co Galway, added: “When I suffered a cardiac arrest in 2015 my chances of doing any other television after that were very slim.
“My heart stopped completely and the statistics tell you 8% of people survive this. There’s also the danger of brain damage, so that puts my imminent retirement in context. Getting to this point is an achievement rather than the end of the line.
“Since 2015, I have had three years that I really shouldn’t have had. I got my life back.”
Speaking in this week’s RTE Guide, he told how his wife saved his life by performing CPR on him until the ambulance arrived.
Lyster said: “Not only did Anne keep me alive but she kept the blood flowing to the brain which prevented brain damage. She did a class-one job.
“Since then, I think about how lucky I was. So I don’t have any difficulty walking away from RTE as much as I have enjoyed my years here.”
The host, who has worked for the national broadcaster for nearly 40 years and is set to be replaced by Joanne Cantwell on The Sunday Game, had another health scare in 2012 when he suffered heart failure.
The father of four said his brushes with death have given him a different outlook on life.
He added: “After my heart failure in 2012 I was fitter than I had been in 20 years, having done the diet, exercises and the lot.
“Then what happens? I get a cardiac arrest. So it wasn’t because I wasn’t looking after
myself. I know this is the wrong attitude but I came away from the cardiac arrest thinking, ‘What’s the fecking point? You’re either dead or alive’.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster ruled out writing a sports memoir after publishers approached him asking if he would be interested.
He added: “I just said, ‘Lads it isn’t going to happen because I simply don’t want to do it.”
Lyster began his career in journalism as a junior reporter with the Tuam Herald before moving into television and radio.