Former Australian Test cricketer and coach Darren Lehmann is speaking out about a program he says gave him his life back after a major heart attack.
Lehmann says Aussie men aren’t proactive enough about their health and wants the recovery steps he took to be mandatory.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cricket legend Darren Lehmann on new health crusade.
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The story is now well told: It was 2020 and the day Lehmann turned 50. After smoking for 30 years, his damaged heart had had enough. He had a major heart attack followed by triple bypass surgery.
“It was a shock because you think it can’t happen to you especially at 50,” he said.
The former Test cricketer and coach was a pack-a-day smoker.
He has since given that up but credits a cardiac recovery and rehab program at Brisbane’s St Vincent’s Private Hospital Northside with giving him his life back.
“I learned more about my body, what it needs to be better, than I had in the previous 50 years,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann wants people to take the six-week program that focuses on lifestyle, exercise, and tailored medication advice.
It’s replicated in most hospitals around the country, but only one in three heart-attack survivors actually take part.
Experts say people who have a heart attack need to make “huge diet, lifestyle, medication changes” and it’s often a “huge surprise”.
New research shows patients who complete the program have lower mortality, lower readmissions, and return to work six weeks sooner.
Now four years on ‘Boof’ is speaking out to save other lives.
“Get to the rehab program. If you’re going to have the operation or you’ve got heart problems.. when you get out the other side, go to the rehab program,” Lehmann said.