Todd Woodbridge - ‘I’M LUCKY TO BE ALIVE'

THE TENNIS LEGEND FEARED HE WOULD DIE AFTER SUFFERING A HEART ATTACK

- Phillip Koch

He exercises at least five days a week and watches what he eats, so Tood Woodbridge was left shocked when his heart failed him.

Two weeks ago, the former Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion, 51, was working out in his Melbourne home gym when he started getting chest pains. Doctors later diagnosed them as a mild heart attack caused by a chip of plaque blocking Todd’s artery.

“I feel like I got lucky and I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” a relieved Todd tells New Idea. “I knew ‘Warnie’ [cricket legend Shane Warne] and that was the first thing that came into my mind when my chest was feeling all of this pressure. I knew I was having an episode.”

Like most Aussies, Todd was devastated when Shane died from a suspected heart attack in March while on holiday in Thailand. Aged just 52, Warnie’s death came weeks after he complained of chest pains.