Yellow Wiggle Greg Page had no symptoms and said he was healthier than ever before having a heart attack on stage during a bushfire charity concert.
Page went into cardiac arrest during a concert in Sydney performed to raise money for bushfire relief on January 17 before an off-duty nurse saved his life.
On Friday he returned to Castle Hill RSL to thank 23-year-old Grace Jones, who was in attendance at the concert and used a defibrillator to save the Wiggle star’s life.
But Page said before the night of the concert he had not felt any symptoms that he would be suffering from orthostatic intolerance or ‘upright intolerance’.
‘I had no warning signs or any pre-existing symptoms that there was the potential for anything to go wrong,’ he told A Current Affair.
Yellow Wiggle Greg Page’s (front centre) brush with death has prompted health experts to call for more investment in the defibrillators that saved his life
On Friday he returned to Castle Hill RSL to thank 23-year-old Grace Jones, who was in attendance at the concert and used a defibrillator to save the Wiggle star’s life
‘If anything I was working out harder to prepare for the show – I was walking quicker, going to the gym, making sure I was as fit as I could be not knowing that there was a ticking time bomb in there.’
‘It’s not necessarily how you look on the outside, it’s how you are on the inside.’
Greg said he had no warning signs in the lead up to his heart attack, and had even seen a doctor just weeks earlier, who had run him through a series of stress tests.
People with orthostatic intolerance have a nervous system that struggles to pump enough blood around the body, which prompted Page’s cardiac arrest.
The original Wiggles lineup were moments away from performing their final song, Hot Potato, when the incident occurred.
Since Page was standing upright for a long period of time, 750ml of blood flowed away from his head and down to his legs, putting immense pressure on his heart.
The children’s entertainer had allegedly complained of feeling unwell to his band-mates after performing on stage for around an hour.
It took three shots of the defibrillator to shock his heart back into rhythm.
‘I had no warning signs or any pre-existing symptoms that there was the potential for anything to go wrong,’ Page said
Paramedic Brian Purcell (right) praised Grace Jones (left) saying that Page was alive due to her quick actions
Following his collapse, Page was taken to Westmead Hospital where he had surgery to have a stent inserted into his heart.
Experts have said without the public access defibrillator, it is likely Page would have lost his life.
Ms Jones bravely swooped in from the audience, performed CPR using the defibrillator along side Steve Pace, the Wiggles drummer and Kimmy Antonelli, a band staff member.
The group have been praised for saving Page’s life after keeping his heart beating for roughly 20 minutes using the defibrillator three times, until paramedics arrived.
Shortly after the incident Ms Jones explained how she had never saved someone’s life outside the hospital.
The Wiggles posted a picture of Page in hospital giving a thumbs up with the caption: ‘Let’s raise the roof tonight and do it for Greg whilst raising funds for the Australian Red Cross and WIRES.’
Greg said he had no warning signs in the lead up to his heart attack, and had even seen a doctor just weeks earlier, who had run him through a series of stress tests (pictured with the people who helped save his life)
She said: ‘It’s a bit surreal. I do things like that every day at work, I didn’t expect to do that without equipment and everything like that.’
Page is now urging for the public to be more aware of defibrillators to prevent tragedies from occurring.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said more money needed to be spent on the devices.
Dr Morgan said defibrillators can be purchased for $1500, saying it was ‘sadly uncommon’ for paramedics to arrive at a cardiac arrest call and find one at the site.
‘Time is of the essence when it comes to treating cardiac arrests’ he said.
‘Every minute that your heart is stopped the chances of surviving reduce by 7-10 per cent’.
Source: dailymail UK
