Warren Sutton has had four heart attacks in the past 12 years.
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In those 12 years he’s flat-lined twice on a medical bed.
“You think you’re kind of invincible before something like that happens to you,” he said.
“Afterwards you realise that life is very, very fragile.”
Mr Sutton, of Sanctuary Point, suffered his first heart attack in April 2006, the second followed quickly after in November 2006, the next was December 2010 and the next in December 2013. That’s four heart attacks in just seven years.
Before his first heart attack, Mr Sutton said he didn’t have a lot of knowledge about prevention, despite it being part of his family history.
“I come from an Indigenous background and all of my mother’s brothers passed away from heart related problems,” he said.
“You just never think that you’ll be next or that it could happen to you.”
New data released by the Heart Foundation found Indigenous Australians die from heart disease at double the rate of other Australians, and in some areas, at triple the rate of the rest of the community.
Out of the 47 regions in the national data set, the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven region ranked 11th, higher than any other region in NSW.
This region has a “ratio gap” of 3.1 which means Indigenous people in the area are 3.1 times more likely to be hospitalised for a heart-related condition than non-Indigenous people. This gap is wider than the national average of 2.6 and the state average of 2.1.
In 2010 Mr Sutton suffered his third heart attack.
He was visiting his doctor for a stress test.
“I was feeling abit puffed, my chest was a bit tight but I didn’t feel too bad,” he said.
The doctor then completed an ECG which showed Mr Sutton’s heart was working just as it should. To be doubly sure, the doctor sent Mr Sutton for an angiogram.
“The doctor asked me how I was feeling afterward and I said I felt fine,” he said.
“He asked me if I was sure, and I said yes.”
But Mr Sutton was not fine. Doctors found one of the arteries to his heart was 100 per cent blocked.
Luckily, a Japanese doctor was at the hospital, teaching Australian doctors and professors new ways of treating blocked arteries.
“I was very lucky it happened at that time because he was able to do the surgery,” Mr Sutton said.
“If he hadn’t of been there I would have needed open heart surgery.”
Four years on, Mr Sutton had changed his lifestyle and was feeling well and healthy.
Just two days after Christmas in 2013 he was fishing at Jervis Bay when he started to feel unwell.
“I wasn’t sure if I was a bit sea sick or if that feeling was coming back,” he said.
“It’s not a feeling you can forget. You feel heavy, there’s no motivation, no drive to do anything.”
The feeling was indeed a heart attack, not a case of sea sickness as he’d first thought.
After a few months of rehabilitation, Mr Sutton was referred to Aunty Jean’s Chronic Care Program.
The program is held once a week at the Nowra Showground and focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with chronic conditions.
Named after the beloved Aunty Jean Morris, who had a long association with the Aboriginal Culture Centre, the program’s primary aim is to develop a model of health promotion for education and self-management.
Mr Sutton has been attending the program for several years now, and said people as old as 96 attended every week.
“It’s a really good program and very worthwhile,” he said.
“They have everything from exercise, talks with dietitians, help with medication, mental health support as well as the social side of it.”
Mr Sutton hasn’t had a heart attack in almost five years and said he was feeling healthy and well.
“You learn what to change about your lifestyle and what’s best for your body,” he said.
“The doctors say walking is the best medicine and I make sure I do it every day.”
Heart Foundation’s regional health promotion coordinator for the Illawarra/Shoalhaven Andy Mark said the key to reducing the high rates of Indigenous heart diseases, was improvement in services.
“Indigenous Australians are at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases and we are working with hospitals to make them more culturally suitable for Aboriginal people,” he said.
“We want to see more Aboriginal staff at hospitals to help Aboriginal patients with in finding services, information and about their treatment.”