Dave Burrows: The heart attack I didn’t know I was having

For a bloke of 50, Dave Burrows thought he was in pretty reasonable nick.

The Breakfast announcer at River 1467 in Mildura certainly hadn’t anticipated what was coming.

In February this year – whilst doing some maintenance on a car – Dave suffered a heart attack.

Dave tells Radio Today “Apart from being a bit overweight and not exercising as much as I would like, I honestly didn’t realise I had any major health problems.”

Dave didn’t even realise he was having a heart attack.

“I thought that I had dehydrated myself working on the car and that I was experiencing indigestion after some takeaway food earlier in the day,” he says.

Three hours later – and still not experiencing as much pain as he might have expected – Dave took himself off to the local hospital.

The medical staff didn’t muck about, organising for Dave to be flown straight to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital.

About 15 hours after his initial signs, Dave had a stent put in and immediately felt better.

“After that, there was seven weeks off work as I had possibly done some more damage to my heart than initially indicated.”

Dave says his story serves as an important reminder to others: Don’t ignore the early warning signs.

Dave says given he felt only moderate pain, he was surprised to learn that the situation was indeed very serious.

“In hindsight, both sides of my family have historically dealt with multiple heart problems and it was the FIRST thing I should have thought of.”

“Family history can be such a warning sign, but it’s also so easily overlooked.”

Dave says accessing local medical assistance can sometimes be challenging.

“Here in Sunraysia we are dealing with, at times, a severe shortage of medical professionals.”

“I had a GP, they shut the surgery, it was re-opened by new management, I again had a GP, and then it was shut again due to doctors moving from town.”

After his heart attack, Dave again had to find a GP. This took several phone calls and then several weeks of waiting for an appointment.

Now back at work, Dave says he feels great, and continues to improve.

“Rehab continues, plenty of gentle exercise and a healthier diet, and I am feeling stronger and stronger every week.”

“It feels so good to be back at work. Weeks away from work through ill health can be hard on your mental health.”

“I honestly didn’t realise how much I would miss working alongside the team here.”

Dave has this advice for anyone else who might one day find themselves in the same boat:

“Any signs of anything that feels unusual, go and get it checked out, especially any tightness or pain in your chest.”

“Best case scenario is if you see your doctor, or your local Emergency Department, and there was nothing to worry about.”

“Make sure you set aside time to exercise each day. I was a farmer in a previous life so that was just part of the lifestyle.”

“And when you get to ‘that’ age, go and get yourself a serious check-up. I did at around 40, but with doctor surgeries closing and doctors moving away from the area I didn’t follow up in recent years.”

Dave says it’s great to be able to tell his story – as it could so easily have had a very different ending.