Dawn Fraser opens up on twin near-death ordeals after fall at home and cardiac arrest

Doctors told Dawn Fraser she might not survive a shattered hip operation and asked her to hand medical consent to her daughter but the swimming great survived, only for her heart to stop beating weeks later.

Australian swimming great Dawn Fraser has opened up about the fall at her home that nearly cost her her life. Picture: Morgan Hancock

Dawn Fraser said she stared death down twice in five months, first when doctors warned she might not survive surgery after a fall at her Noosa home, and again when her heart stopped without warning weeks later.

The 87-year-old Olympic champion has broken her silence for the first time since the December accident, revealing the extent of her injuries and the terrifying choices she was forced to make in hospital.

“When the anaesthetist came in, he said that I could die … And that was the frightening part, the fact that I might die under anaesthetic, and I didn’t want to die that way,” she told 10 News First Queensland’s Sharyn Ghidella.

In case the surgery went wrong, Fraser was also asked to formally allow her daughter to make medical decisions on her behalf.

“The anaesthetist came in … and asked, did I give my daughter consent. I said, ‘Yes, I did.’”

Fraser vividly remembered the final words she uttered to medical staff as she was wheeled into surgery: “I’m going to fight”.

Swimming legend Dawn Fraser. Picture: by Morgan Hancock

The fall happened in her own driveway on the Sunshine Coast while trying to open a case of Coca-Cola. Her foot caught on a small ledge recently installed at the gate, and she fell hard onto the concrete.

Unable to move and in extreme pain, she managed to call out to neighbours, who rushed to help while her loyal German Shepherd sat by her side the entire time.

Her daughter, Dawn-Lorraine, said that while not being home at the time was initially distressing, it may have been a blessing in disguise.

“In hindsight, I’m sort of glad we weren’t home, because I think I would have picked her up … which could have killed her,” she said.

Later that morning, she received a confronting phone call from hospital staff while her mother was being prepped for surgery.

“When I was on the phone with Mum … he [the doctor] said she probably won’t survive, so we won’t [resuscitate],” Dawn-Lorraine recalled. “And I said, ‘Yes, you will resuscitate her. This is Dawn Fraser. She’s not just an 87-year-old. She is tough. I know my mother.’”

She was later told by doctors to prepare for the worst.

“The doctors said we needed to be prepared; they didn’t honestly think she would survive the hip operation.”

Although Fraser pulled through and was discharged just nine days later, her health battles were far from over.

Dawn Lorraine Fraser. Picture Lachie Millard

Weeks after the fall, she suffered a sudden and frightening cardiac episode at her local surf club.

“I was at the meeting at the surf club, and we’d finished, and I went downstairs to get a lift home … unfortunately, I started to feel very faint, and I fainted. I was unconscious for five to seven seconds, and I vomited everywhere, and I just didn’t understand what had gone wrong.”

“The ambulance took me to Noosa Hospital … they said that my heart had stopped for five seconds, and I had a very low heart rate.”

“The doctor came in and said, ‘I’m putting a pacemaker in,’ because we’d had a few stoppages of the heart … I’ve had the pacemaker in there for eight weeks … and he saved my life.”

Despite everything, Fraser said she’s grateful for the independence she still has.

“I can still shower myself and take myself to the bathroom, but I can’t make my own bed or open many doors,” she said. “It’s a fight every day, but at least I’m doing it.”

“Some days I feel 87. Other days, I don’t … I lost a lot of strength and weight, but I’m fighting to get it back.”

To rebuild her strength and mobility, Fraser has returned to the place that made her a household name, the pool.

“It felt wonderful [being back in the pool] … I’ve lost a few things. I used to be an eight-beat kick, but not anymore. I’m just slower, and I’ve got to accept that,” she said.

Still, she says the months since the fall have been tougher than anything she’s ever endured — even during her historic swimming career.

“This has been the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to face, absolutely. It’s a challenge that I’ve never thought I’d have to face. But now it’s there in front of me.”

“Winning the gold medals was much easier.”

“I feel so lucky I survived.”

Dawn Lorraine Fraser and son Jackson. Picture Lachie Millard

Fraser said she briefly considered going into care but couldn’t imagine leaving her loved ones.

“I looked at going into a home, but I couldn’t live without them … I couldn’t have survived without my family. Not at all. I don’t think I would have survived.”

“We are a family. We go through the good times and the bad … I don’t know what I’d do without my family.”

Among those supporting her through recovery is fellow Olympian Ian Thorpe.

“Thorpey rings me once a fortnight to see if I’m still okay, asking if he can do anything for me.”

Fraser now has her sights set on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“I’d be 95 then. My sisters and brothers all lived past 90. I can’t give in.”