Adelaide media personality Mark Aiston suffers heart attack

One of Adelaide’s best-known media personalities has shared a powerful message from hospital after suffering a near-fatal heart attack.

Mark Aiston, one of SA’s best-known media personalities, has shared a powerful message from hospital after suffering a heart attack – urging men to take their health seriously.

The former TV presenter with ABC and Network Ten, and radio host on Triple M, Mix 102.3 and FIVEaa has revealed that he was rushed to surgery on Thursday morning, after experiencing minor symptoms for “the past few days”.

“I’d been feeling unwell for the last couple of days, in particular quite anxious with pain under the left side of my chest,” Aiston said.

“I was at La Trattoria last night in the takeaway section, where I work answering phones and taking orders, when the pain got quite significant. My left hand was a bit tingly and I started to get a dry mouth.”

It was only on Thursday morning at about 4am, when the pain became unbearable, that Aiston drove himself to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he underwent a coronary angiogram – which revealed that one of his arteries was 95 per cent blocked – and had a stent inserted.

“They told me I’d had a heart attack the day before. The doctor said if I had left it another day, there could have been more significant damage or it could have been catastrophic,” Aiston said.

From a hospital bed inside the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the 64-year-old, who is now general manager at Radio Italia Uno, said his near-death experience had “allowed him to think clearly” about what was important in life.

“When I was in the operating theatre I was fully conscious, although on happy gas, and while I was watching my heart I was thinking about the things that were important to me,” Aiston said.

“Immediately I thought of my daughter, Bridget, and my former wife Judith, who came in to see me this morning, and my friends and beautiful dog Toby of course, who’s waiting for me at home.

“I was thinking to myself just how many things we worry about that quite seriously are just not worth the effort and, in fact, are contributing to the reason I’m sitting there.

“There’s so much bulls*** that we’re all engaged in that doesn’t matter when you’re sitting there hoping it all goes right.”

Mark Aiston with SA television stalwart Jane Doyle at the ABC studios in Collinswood on 31 Aug, 1988.

Aiston has been candid about his mental health issues and launched a mental health-themed podcast, The Mental Health Show. Picture: Dean Martin

A passionate mental health advocate, Aiston hoped his experience would be a lesson for others – especially men – to take their health seriously.

“If you’ve got these signs, don’t ignore them. I know it’s hard to drag yourself out of bed, I know it’s hard to drag yourself into the car and I know it’s hard to drag yourself into hospital, but if I hadn’t have done that, I might not be here right now,” he said.

Aiston shared a post to social media following his surgery, which was met with an outpouring of love from fellow SA media personalities – including inspirational London bombing survivor Gill Hicks, who wrote: “Death/the brush with/helps us live more fully, with clarity and with grace and love. Here’s to your strength and healing.”

Former Mix 102.3 co-host Jason ‘Snowy’ Carter shared his well-wishes for Aiston, saying he was “glad he chatted” with the media personality last week.

“Hope you are OK mate … I so want to do an Aiston joke right now but I won’t. Get well mate,” he wrote.

Aiston has been candid in the past about his battles with addiction, revealing in 2019 that he was undergoing rehabilitation in Melbourne for gambling and alcohol addictions that had “destroyed his life”.

The 64-year-old launched his podcast, The Mental Health Show, three years after his mainstream media career ended abruptly and regularly video blogs with his 5000 followers on Facebook.