Hadlee open his heart on ‘‘My Greatest Test Match’’
Sir Richard Hadlee has offered his support to the Heart Foundation’s Big Heart Appeal almost 28 years after his own heart event back in 1990.
Hadlee was diagnosed with WolfeParkinson-White syndrome shortly after he retired from cricket at the age of 39.
‘‘I bowled my last ball in test cricket on 9 July 1990 and on 9 July 1991, I had my surgery,’’ says Hadlee, who first learned he had a heart condition following a medical emergency at Carisbrook cricket ground in Dunedin.
‘‘I was doing some commentary there. It was on the embankment and to get in the radio commentary box, you had to climb a ladder to get up to it,’’ Hadlee recalls.
‘‘But when I got up there, I realised I didn’t feel well enough to do the commentary and said to cricket commentator, Bryan Waddle, ‘I have got to lie down, my heart is racing.’ I experienced numbness around my mouth and tingling in my hands.
‘‘Brian got me out of there and before long, I was in an ambulance. I remember looking at a machine with red numbers reading my heart beat rhythm. It was very erratic, anywhere from 80 to 300 beats per minute. I realised then that things weren’t looking good.’’
Once stabilised, he was diagnosed with Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome and was told that it was a ‘‘short circuit of the electrical system for the heart, resulting in a dangerously erratic heart rhythm.’’
‘‘The doctors said because it was me, they could rename it ‘Hadlee’s Disease’ and I said, ‘No, Wolfe-Parkinson-White syndrome is fine thanks!’ Hadlee’s Disease didn’t quite appeal,’’ he laughs.
‘‘I also learned that the disease was congenital. It could have struck me at six months or six years-old. But as it turned out, I was 39 before I had a problem,’’ he says.
Despite this late diagnosis, Sir Richard admits the signs were probably there, but he mistook them for the physical stresses of sport.
‘‘My heart did palpitate quite a bit, but I would just sit down and within a few minutes, my heart would regulate again. I’d just get back up and get on with it.
‘‘But there were other signs, such as tiredness and recovery. For instance, if I put in a big effort one day, it was hard to reproduce it the next day. Again, I just put it down to the demands of sport and the fact that I was getting older.
‘‘Thirty-nine is considered old in cricket, particularly for a bowler.’’
He had heart surgery in July 1991, admitting it was a time of great apprehension.
‘‘It was scary for my family too, whether I was going to survive or not. You’re in an unknown territory and it was all very foreign to me,’’ he says.
‘‘You do prepare. You go through everything. I have always said it was my greatest test match, because I was fighting for my life.
‘‘I played 86 cricket Test matches and 115 one day internationals, but this was my greatest test.’’
Following an eight-month recovery, the pain began to disappear and he got his strength back.
‘‘Today, I take a Betabloc Metoprolol and an aspirin every day. That’s it for life, in simple terms,’’ he says.
Last week, Hadlee took part in a publicity shoot to promote the Big Heart Appeal, which launches in the wake of new statistics revealing an increase in the number of people living with heart disease.
He joined Dame Jenny Shipley, Flava breakfast host, Sela Alo and six other heart disease survivors of various ages, backgrounds and conditions.
‘‘I was amazed to meet a young man in his 20s who had his first open heart-surgery when he was 15, another teenager who had a heart attack on the basketball court at the same age and a young mother with her sixyear-old daughter, who both share WolfeParkinson-White syndrome.
‘‘This really highlighted to me that heart disease is an every person’s disease, impacting so many Kiwis in one way or another.’’
This year, the charity celebrates its 50th anniversary and since it began, the Heart Foundation has invested more than $65 million into heart research, while specialist cardiac training is also funded. This is where cardiologists and researchers train overseas, and return to ensure New Zealanders receive the same world class care here.
Since working with the Heart Foundation, Hadlee has learned that at least two of the cardiologists who treated him have been funded by Heart Foundation.
‘‘I feel lucky that I went on to make a strong recovery after my own surgery and continue to live an active and healthy life.
‘‘But I don’t take that for granted and I believe the Heart Foundation’s significant investment into research and specialist training for New Zealand cardiologists has had a major impact on success cases like mine.
‘‘I would encourage New Zealanders to do their bit by supporting this important fundraising campaign,’’ he says