Shane Warne's magic number was 23. It was the number he wore on his cricket jersey. It was painted on the bottom of his two swimming pools in Melbourne. His dad was, touchingly, seen holding the number 23 when Warne's body was brought back to Australian soil.
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(Plenty have speculated about why Warne chose 23. Was it for Michael Jordan who also wore 23? Some media suggested it was because Warne was obsessed as a kid with Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton who wore the No.23. That seems unlikely as Warne was such a Saints fan. The most probable explanation comes thanks to an article by ESPN in 2005: "Shane Warne chose No. 23 after wearing it at Under-19s level for St Kilda in the AFL". That makes total sense.)
But the number that keeps resonating with me in the wake of Warnie's death is 52, the age he died of suspected heart attack in Thailand on March 4.
My partner, Mark, also died of a heart attack, in 2017, aged 52.
I loved Warnie, he was always just there being a legend, but the fact he died of a heart attack at the age of 52 rocked me the most. It hit me like a sledgehammer, bringing back all the shock from the loss of Mark, my partner of nearly 15 years and father of our two young children.
Then, news came through on Thursday night that Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching had that afternoon died of a suspected heart attack, also at the age of 52.
Her death was shocking and heart-breaking too. Because 52 is too young to die. Much too young.
So much attention has been given to COVID deaths over the last two years. Each of these is tragic as well.
But it does not change the fact that coronary heart disease is still Australia's number one killer, taking 50 lives every day.
The media has never reported daily heart attack figures like they have COVID deaths. Health officials have never fronted daily press conferences warning everyone of what to do to prevent having a heart attack or how to recognise the signs someone is having a heart attack.
Perhaps they should start doing that. Or at least governments snf the media need to drop the obsession with COVID and start to recognise that people die every day from a myriad of causes, few as preventable as heart disease.
The shocking deaths of Warne and Kitching will hopefully help people to stop and assess their risk of coronary disease.
The Heart Foundation has an admirable vision of an Australia free of heart disease.
It revealed last last year that seven in 10 Australians yet to hit their 50s had a "heart age" above their actual age - and millions did not know their blood pressure or cholesterol numbers.
The results were so important because high blood pressure and cholesterol are the two leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
You can't change your age, sex, ethnicity or family history but you can take steps to reduce the risk of heart disease - maintain a healthy weight, be physically active, don't smoke, manage high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
No two heart attacks are the same. Chest pain is the most common sign; some people may not get any chest pain. The very slightest pain may be the first sign of a fatal heart attack. Other signs include dizziness; nausea, indigestion or vomiting; shortness of breath and sweating or a cold sweat. Some people may have a heart attack with no symptoms, something that is picked up down the track. Don't overthink it. Always ring Triple 0 if there is any sign. Always.
National Heart Foundation CEO Professor Garry Jennings said the latest figures showed 8000 people in the ACT had coronary disease. Across Australia, 50 people will die of the disease today.
"Prominent people certainly bring this issue to light, as these have, tragic as they are, but it's happening to 49 other people every day and not all of them are old. And not all of them are men. It's the biggest killer of women too," Professor Jennings said.
"It's not always, but it's mostly preventable if people are aware what their risk factors are.
"The preventable things are the physical activity and good nutrition and not smoking. You need to check your blood pressure, cholesterol and [presence of] diabetes which are easily picked up in a Heart Health Check that is recommended for all Australians over the age of 45 except for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders who need to get it done at 30."
You can book in for a Heart Health Check with your GP.
"It's an item number under the Medicare. It hasn't been taken up as much as we would like to see. But many hundreds of thousands of Australians have done it. And if your doctor is bulk-billing, it's free. You'll get a measurement of what the likelihood of a heart problem will be in the next five years," Professor Jennings said.
"And because it's done in general practice, you also get a management plan to address any underlying problem that might be there."
Professor Jennings said an important message from the foundation was that women too often did not recognise the signs of a heart attack until too late.
"Women typically take longer to recognise something is a heart problem. They are more often surprised when they told they have one. It's a bit of a misconception that this is a men's problem," he said.
And it's worth remembering, as concern raises again about another COVID variant, that organisations such as the Heart Foundation are working every day to stop a bigger killer. COVID restrictions also may have even resulted in more heart attack deaths.
"Certainly during COVID, the number of heart deaths are probably greater. Certainly plenty of overseas evidence that people were too scared to go to hospital initially and probably dying of their heart attacks at home," Professor Jennings said.
Professor Jennings says there will always be heart disease that is congenital but he believes Australia can get close to ridding itself of preventable heart disease.
"Even people with a genetic predisposition to it, can do a lot, through their lifestyle and education, about risk factors. We've got some wonderful treatments now and better than they were 10 years ago," he said.