Eastwood reveals heart scare drama
GREG Eastwood was driving to training when the heart problems first struck.
‘‘I started feeling dizzy and had blurred vision. I pretty much lost sight for a bit and almost crashed,’’ Eastwood told stuff.
‘‘I was driving with (Bulldogs teammate) Danny Fualalo and when I came to he was like ‘what are you doing?!’
‘‘I lost control, I didn’t know what was going on.
‘‘I veered onto the other side of the road. It was lucky it was a quiet street, a backstreet of Belmore and I wasn’t on the motorway. That could have been real bad.’’
This occurred on the third day of Canterbury’s preseason. While Eastwood had no history of heart problems and escaped injury, he was sufficiently shaken up to get his ticker examined. Over the next fortnight, the former Kiwis forward underwent a battery of tests from heart and brain specialists in a bid to determine the issue. Unable to find anything, they cleared him to return to training.
After a particularly draining session, he again suffered an irregular heartbeat.
‘‘I was pretty scared then,’’ said the father of five. ‘‘I did a stress test on the treadmill where they hook up your heart. I was walking, then started to jog and my heart rate went from 140 to 250 (beats per minute) just like that.
‘‘It was a bit weird. The specialist picked it up and sent me to another doctor. He described it as an irregular heartbeat and when you get that extra heartbeat, you’re heart is just racing.
‘‘It can cause you to black out or even have a cardiac arrest, so I needed it fixed.
‘‘It’s a bit scary when you’re talking about surgery on the heart.’’
It’s a procedure Eastwood underwent during the week. The medicos kept the 30-year-old sedated but conscious during the operation. A series of follow-up stress tests will determine if it was a success.
‘‘I have five kids and having a heart problem isn’t easy,’’ Eastwood said.
‘‘Especially my wife, she was stressed out. It’s not so much about footy. It’s my life and my health comes first.
‘‘When it first happened they thought it may have been dehydration, just having a bad day or being run down.
‘‘Then when it happened again, it was pretty serious. We had to find out what was causing it. Lucky they got onto what it was and fixed it. Hopefully I can continue playing again.
‘‘If I needed a pacemaker, it would be hard to get back into it. That’s what we were worried about because then I’d have to retire.
‘‘Thankfully, it didn’t come down to that. They burnt off the extra heartbeat and hopefully I’ll get back into it next week.’’
Eastwood has had his share of setbacks in recent years. Knee injuries in successive seasons have restricted the former Bronco to just 33 NRL appearances in the past two season.
‘‘It’s footy I guess, you take the good with the bad,’’ he said.
‘‘I did my left meniscus one year, came back and then did the right one the year after. I haven’t had much luck. I get back into it and now the heart problem.
‘‘I guess at 30, I’m not a youngster any more and need to look after myself.’’
Equally off-putting was speculation that his career at the Bulldogs could be over. Despite being contracted for next season, Eastwood was one of the players believed to be shopped around when the club was experiencing salary cap problems. However, the departure of contracted players Sam Kasiano, James Graham and Brad Abbey has ensured Canterbury is now cap compliant.
‘‘It’s hard when you don’t know what’s going on and nobody calls you to explain what’s happening,’’ Eastwood said.
‘‘To lose Bupa (Graham) and Kas (Kasiano), they’re a big part of the club along with Josh Reynolds.
‘‘Having your name tossed up about being shopped around, it’s not easy to concentrate. You’ve just got to work hard and make sure they want you at the club.
‘‘Hopefully, I can get started again, get another contract and still be a part of the club.’’ The Sun-Herald Getty Images
‘ It’s not so much about footy. It’s my life and my health comes first.’ GREG EASTWOOD