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Queensland musician Jeremy Marou is warning people with a family history of heart disease to get to know the warning signs of a heart attack.
The 34-year-old — one half of Busby Marou — was playing touch football in Rockhampton last week when he started feeling light-headed.
"I just thought I was puffed and unfit," he said.
"There was tightening across my chest ... it was all the things I had read about, all the signs.
"I still didn't think that was it, but I had a good crew around me that got me to the hospital."
Marou suffered two heart attacks and was transferred by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane where a stent was placed in his heart.
"My right artery was 99 per cent blocked," he said.
"They wouldn't let me walk from the time I had the heart attack to when I landed in Brisbane.
"On the flight I was thinking about my kids.
"I'm naturally scared of hospitals and doctors so it was scary for me."
History repeating
Marou's father died from a heart attack on the same touch football field in Rockhampton 15 years ago.
"Ironically it was having a game of touch football and he fainted on the field," he told ABC Radio Brisbane's Craig Zonca.
"When I gave the medical staff my dad's history they said I had the exact same blockage in the exact same artery as my dad.
"Fortunately for me I'm around to fix my health and see my kids grow up."
Musical partner Thomas Busby said although it came as a shock, the life of a muso was not a healthy one.
"He sent me a text saying, 'I had a little heart attack' and then photos of him looking like a lab experiment ... I thought it was a joke," Busby said.
"It's true though, no musician really has a healthy lifestyle — not just diet and the drinking but the lack of sleep.
"Even though it was a massive surprise I suppose we used to laugh about it saying that it might happen one day."
Changing the rider list
The duo still plan to embark upon their national tour which kicks off in three weeks.
"We'll be making changes while we're on the road and we'll be changing the rider list," Busby said.
"The rock 'n' roll business is a weird lifestyle and the partying becomes too much.
"You've got to look after yourself.
"We love what we do and would hate to stop it for ill health."
Marou said the experience had taught him a lot and he planned to change his diet and exercise more.
"What I've learnt is that I ticked all the boxes," he said.
"I'm Indigenous, I'm a Torres Strait Islander, I have family history of it and my lifestyle choices of cigarettes and life on the road isn't great.
"You can't take life for granted and you have to heed the signs of a heart attack."
Topics: heart-disease, music, human-interest, people, brisbane-4000, rockhampton-4700