Central Queensland miner Steven Andrew Heathcote wants to sue Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd over a heart attack while rescuing a workmate

The Mackay man wants to sue his former employer after he was forced to resign his high-paying job over serious health issues linked to his heart.

A former Oaky Creek coal miner wants to sue his then employer after he suffered a heart attack while trying to rescue a workmate.

A Central Queensland miner who suffered a heart attack while trying to rescue a colleague trapped onsite wants to sue his former employer after he was forced to resign his $120,000 a year job over serious health issues.

The incident occurred on March 27, 2013 when Steven Andrew Heathcote had been on night shift at Oaky Creek coal mine, at Tieri.

His workmate became trapped when the dozer he was in collapsed into a coal stockpile cavity – and during his rescue efforts Mr Heathcote suffered a heart attack, and now has a 40 per cent whole of body impairment.

It was deemed a work injury to which Mr Heathcote received workers compensation.

He was able to work for another 6.5 years before his heart condition declined and the North Mackay man resigned from his high paying position on November 7, 2019.

During an application to extend the statutory limitation period, he told Mackay Supreme Court on Thursday he had been feeling breathless, overheated and exerted in the lead up to his resigning. He also said his role had become more strenuous.

The period of limitations for filing a claim is three years from the date of incident.

Oaky Creek Coal Pty Ltd barrister Anthony Mellick argued Mr Heathcote had been aware his heart was failing in August 2019 when he was told he had issues with his left ventricular ejection fraction.

The court heard Mr Heathcote had to partake in five-yearly medical checks and had to supply a certificate showing he had clearance to do his job – this was due on November 8, 2019.

Mr Mellick suggested Mr Heathcote knew he would not pass his clearance, to which he said he had resigned over “concern at how I was going”.

The court also heard Mr Heathcote had gone to three solicitors before his application to extend the statutory limitation was filed on July 1, 2021.

Mr Heathcote told the court he did not really understand the significant level of his impairment until he spoke to a former workmate, who had suffered a broken neck onsite, sometime in 2020.

Mr Heathcote said his workmate had been told he had a 15 per cent impairment.

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“And I was at 40 per cent,” he said.

“I really got a bit of a fright.”

Justice Graeme Crow questioned why none of the earlier solicitors had taken any steps in relation to the claim given Mr Heathcote had “not once, not twice, but thrice went to a solicitor to sort this out”.

Barrister Cate Heyworth-Smith, acting for Mr Heathcote, said any delay was not unreasonable given the records that needed to be obtained.

“Those (records) that need to be woven together to say ‘here is a man who has a worthwhile case and he has worthwhile quantum arising out of his case’,” Ms Heyworth-Smith said.

“And it’s not just liability and it’s not just quantum, but it’s that bridge between them of causation of the medical outcome that he has experienced.

“That was not all together until this year.”

Justice Crow said it was a complex case and reserved his findings.