Parramatta Eels legend Peter Wynn rushed to St Vincent’s with heart issues and calcium disease

Three-time premiership-winning Eel Peter Wynn was rushed to hospital in “excruciating pain” two-and-a-half years after suffering a heart attack.

Peter Wynn (R) with Eels fan Paul Hogan AM in December. Picture: Richard Dobson

Parramatta’s three-time premiership great Peter Wynn has been rushed to hospital in “excruciating pain” with specialists at St Vincent’s Hospital conducting immediate medical tests on his heart.

It comes two-and-a-half years after Wynn suffered a heart attack.

Wynn has been in hospital for more than a week but boldly declared: “Big ‘Wally’ Wynn fights on.”

He has undergone CT scans, angiogram and cardiac aspirations while being treated by renowned St Vincent’s cardiologist, Dr Bruce Walker.

Wynn’s heart issues came after he was initially diagnosed with Pseudogout, formally known as calcium pyrophosphate disease, which can cause “severe pain and swelling.”

“There are actually two separate medical issues,” said Wynn, who is unsure when he will be released from hospital.

A staple of Parramatta’s side which famously dominated rugby league through the 1980s, Wynn was taken to Windsor private Hospital last Friday night before being transported to St Vincent’s.

Parramatta Eels legend Peter Wynn gives a thumbs up from his hospital bed.

Now 66, Wynn - along with ex-teammates David Liddiard and Steve Ella - was invited into the CommBank Stadium directors’ lounge for last Saturday’s game against Canterbury but was instead laid up in hospital.

“I had excruciating pain down my left side,” Wynn said. “I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t move, I was like a cripple. I had to use my right arm just to lift my left arm above the horizontal.

“They diagnosed that as being Pseudogout across my shoulders, neck and down through my left shoulder blade. It gets into the lining in your joints.

“They checked it out and then found there was a high elevation in my troponin levels in my heart and they had to work out why. Something had happened.

“I had a heart attack in 2021. The doctors checked out the stents they put in and checked my arteries. They had to eliminate things.

“I’ve had quite a few tests – CT scans, angiograms and (cardiac) aspirations, where they take fluid out of the joints to see what is causing the inflammation and pain.

Parramatta legend Peter Wynn with one of his premiership rings.

“They did a test on my heart where they go in through your groin to check the stents. I’m still here in hospital. I don’t know when they’re going to let me out.”

Despite his issues, Wynn doesn’t believe he suffered a second heart attack.

“When I first got (to hospital) I told the doctor I was in so much pain and he thought I’d had a heart attack,” Wynn said.

“That’s when they did the tests and the troponin was high but the pain was actually caused by the Pseudogout.

“I don’t think I had a heart attack but the levels indicated something did happen to my heart.”

Despite leading a healthy lifestyle, Wynn sustained a heart attack in May, 2021 when “all of a sudden, this pain hit me in my chest, down my arm. I slumped under a tree and couldn’t move.”

Wynn played 176 games for Parramatta, between 1979 and 1990, along with four State of Origin games for NSW and four Tests for Australia.