Les Walker admitted to Townsville University Hospital after heart problem strikes

When Les Walker started having heart palpitations he decided to mow the lawn instead of calling Triple 0. Hours later he was in hospital. Now he’s urging men to be health smart.

When Les Walker started to have heart palpitations last Sunday, he thought it would be a good time to mow the lawn.

But hours later he would be waiting in the Townsville University Hospital Emergency Department before spending almost two days there following a supraventricular tachycardia (also called an irregularly fast heartbeat).

This was not the Mundingburra MP’s first stint in hospital for issues with his heart, having his first tachycardia in January of 2020.

Mr Walker is warning other men they need to be wary of their health and not pretend everything is fine.

“I was just making a cup of coffee, when I had heart palpitations in my chest,” he said.

“Most people get it and it goes away, but it didn’t go away.

“And being a bloke, I let it go for three hours, I mowed the lawn and did a few odd jobs.”

It was only then he said to his wife: “I think you need to take me to hospital”.

Mr Walker said doctors at the hospital told him he should have called Triple 0 straight away.

He said it took some time to narrow down exactly what was wrong, but doctors eventually diagnosed it as a supraventricular tachycardia.

Mundingburra MP Les Walker has had a health scare. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mr Walker left hospital on Tuesday afternoon after being given an echocardiogram and an angiogram to see if anything was blocked.

He said it was almost like an electrical breakdown in the body.

“When your heart speeds up you get more oxygen with electric impulses and mine didn’t switch off,” Mr Walker said.

He said with the incident in 2020, he was given three injections to “recalibrate” his heart.

But this time he had to do a valsalva manoeuvre, which is a breathing method designed to slow the heart when it is beating too fast.

“They get you to sit up, they give you a syringe and you blow in it really hard to make the plunger move, while you’re blowing to expel all your air, they put you backwards with your feet over your head … and it recalibrates you,” Mr Walker said.

The MP said there were number of high-profile men who had lost their lives to health conditions in recent times and it was important to start the conversation about mens’ health.

“We’ve seen the sad loss of Shane Warne and (Ricky) Ponting the other day had a scare in the television team there for the broadcast,” Mr Walker said.

“And I lost a mate to a heart attack only about 10 days ago … while he was cooking the barbecue and we are hearing these stories more and more.”

Mr Walker encouraged other men to make sure they had regular check-ups at the doctor, get their heart and blood pressure checked and have a good diet.

“Men are a bit slack, they’re indestructible, they’re all doctors – they’re Doctor Google in some cases,” he said.

“I think we’ve got some of the best (doctors) in the country right here on our doorstep.”

Mr Walker said men should start with a trip to the GP.

“A good GP does testing and then they’ll guide you which way you need to go,” he said.

The MP thanked the doctors, nurses and staff at the Townsville University Hospital for their help during his stay.

Originally published as Les Walker admitted to Townsville University Hospital after heart problem strikes