Emily Weir: Home and Away actor talks of her own heart scare after on-screen character’s heart attack

Her on-screen character suffered a heart attack on Home and Away this week, but in real life Emily Weir has opened up about her personal experience with heart health. Read her story.

Emily Weir as Mackenzie on Home and Away, after suffering a heart attack.

When Emily Weir’s Home and Away character had a heart attack on the show this week, it hit close to home for Weir, who too was confronted with her own mortality because of heart complications.

It was about three years ago when Weir was hospitalised after suffering severe heart palpitations – coupled with a family history of heart disease and fatal heart attacks, she wasn’t taking any chances.

“It is really close to my heart,” the Seven personality told The Sunday Telegraph this week.

“My mum also suffers heart issues which came to light a couple of years ago and weirdly, on the back end of that, I started to experience quite severe palpitations, which led me to having to get stress echocardiogram – I had to wear a heart halter on Home and Away.

“I get my heart tested because I had ventricular ectopic beats, which basically means my beats were out of rhythm.

Aussie actress Emily Weir has revealed a health scare. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“I had to go to the emergency room and it was this big thing – it was really stressful

“And at the time, I was going to the gym every day, I was working out, doing all the things – it was just a really confronting time because I was very scared that I would have some sort of heart defect.

“You get fearful that all the things that you take for granted will change – like your heart beating on its own – so it was a pretty confronting time.”

She said the ventricular ectopic diagnosis can often be down to stress, and has annual stress echoes to keep on top it it.

“It could be down to a variety of factors, but it was all about managing it, and now I get my heart checked every year,” she said.

She said her character, Mackenzie, having heart surgery this a week after a frightening heart episode was the perfect alignment – and hoped the storyline would bring attention to an important health issue for young people, as well as old.

Aussie actress Emily Weir talks about heart health. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Essentially, why I think it’s such an important topic is because in 2020, 56,700 people over the age 25 suffered acute coronary effects, like a heart attack or angina – which is 155 events in Australia a day,” she said.

“And 12 per cent of those – like 6900 people – died.

“For my job a performer telling this story is to raise awareness that if people are suffering symptoms, which by the way, aren’t always chest pain, especially for women – a lot of women who have heart attacks experience fatigue, nausea, jaw pain, neck pain, back pain, and shoulder pain … and we’re all tired, and we’re all sore.

“But if symptoms persist, and you are feeling uncomfortable, it’s really important that people go and check it out.

“Because it does happen in young people.

“I think with productivity and stress culture, and everyone’s overworked, people are suffering more health problems than ever – so awareness is super important, which is why it was so good to tell this story.

“It means the world to me.”