‘Smoking cigarettes and huffing vapes’: John Safran’s shocking health admission

The colourful Australian media personality has opened up about a recent health scare that saw him go under the knife.

Well known for his ability to inject colour into the gloomiest topics, Australian documentary maker and author John Safran has shared a turbulent account of how he recently dealt with some concerning personal health news.

The 50-year-old spoke out earlier this week about a series of “mini-heart attacks” amid a health kick after the release of his latest book, Puff Piece – an investigative book looking at the tobacco and the vaping industry.

In a recent blog post, Safran described how some lower back pain he felt while working out resulted in having stents inserted into his heart.

He said he didn’t think much of it when the back pain became rib pain, stating: “I assume the nerves in my back are connected to my ribs because now I feel pain there too.”

“I need to stop and give myself a minute to recover. I really should see a chiropractor,” he wrote.

Within two months, Safran was having trouble walking long distances, instead opting to drive or Uber around.

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Aussie personality John Safran recently suffered “mini heart attacks”. Picture: Aaron Francis

And it was a late-night kebab shop outing with a friend when he made the call to see a doctor.

“I’m eating falafel with my mate Vinny at a kebab shop attached to a car wash,” he explained.

“I feel too embarrassed to call an Uber for the one measly kilometre between the kebab shop and my home. So I wave goodbye to Vinny and start walking, having to recover at tram stop benches along the way.

“I’m nearly home. Leaning against the wall of the apartment block next to mine, I know I can make the final twenty metres. I regain my composure. Enough’s enough.”

That Monday, he checked in to see a doctor, and to Safran’s surprise, he was asked, “Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”

John Safran's Puff Piece has been nominated Prime Minister’s Literary Award.

The doctor wrote a hasty referral to a cardiologist and scripts for some pills.

That’s when the cardiologist confirmed the heart problems.

“He offers his professional opinion on what has been going on inside my body. For months I have been having little heart attacks, brushing them off and getting on with the day,” Safran said.

“He says he usually books an x-ray to see if a surgical procedure called an angiogram is necessary. But in this case, he suggests, let’s just skip to the angiogram. He books me in for the surgery.”

By the end of the week, he had a set of stents unblocking his arteries, followed by a second set the week after.

Safran revealed he picked up smoking and vaping for over a year while working on Puff Piece – which has been nominated Prime Minister’s Literary Award – despite not having done so until 2020.

“I always immerse myself in the adventure at hand, get over-involved, become the opposite of a fly on the wall,” he said.

“So I had spent over a year smoking cigarettes and huffing vapes.”

The cardiologist again looked at me dumbfounded. “Yes, that was most likely the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Fortunately, Safran is now back jogging pain-free after a follow-up angiogram.