Todd Woodbridge reveals recent heart attack, urges people to get regular health checkups

Australian doubles icon Todd Woodbridge has revealed that he suffered a heart attack in the last week and has urged everyone to get regular medical checkups.

Woodbridge is perhaps best known for successful doubles partnerships with compatriot Mark Woodforde (nicknamed “The Woodies”) and then later Swede Jonas Björkman.

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The 51-year-old has remained fit and active since retiring from professional sport and warned against the complacency that might set in for people who believe their healthy lifestyle precludes them from something like a heart attack.

Woodbridge had returned home to Australia after stints doing commentary at the US Open and Laver Cup.

“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 told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I had a little heart episode that goes down as a mild heart attack which is a bit of a shock to me.”

The 51-year-old added that the heart attack served as a shock given his lifestyle, and says his experience shows that “it can happen to anybody”.

“I consider (I) 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.

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“I’ve hit that age now where I need to make sure that I have regular testing, get to the doctors,” the retired pro said. “I’d urge anybody out there coming off the last couple of years (of lockdowns), where we’ve gone, ‘nah I’m OK, haven’t been to doctors, haven’t had check ups’, to ensure you get out there and do that. 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.”