Australia's original golden girl Dawn Fraser reveals her heart stopped weeks after a serious fall
Australia's original golden girl Dawn Fraser revealed her heart stopped weeks after she had a serious fall at her Sunshine Coast home in December last year.
The Australian Olympic swimming legend suffered multiple injuries including broken ribs and required a hip replacement when she hospitalised five months ago.
Doctors told the 87-year-old it was not a safe operation and she could die, and asked if she would give consent to her daughter Dawn-Lorraine to make medical decisions.
'That was the frightening part, was the fact that I might die under anaesthetic and I didn't want to die that way,' Fraser told 10 News presenter Sharyn Ghidella.
She said Dawn-Lorraine and grandson Jackson were out when she fell on the driveway of their Sunshine Coast home, but she managed to use her mobile to call her neighbours.
'It was a shock for me. Thank goodness my neighbours were home and came over and looked after me,' Fraser said.
They called the ambulance and she was taken to hospital where she later underwent surgery.
'I wasn't going to give in. When I die I want to be with my family.'
Weeks after the fall, she suffered cardiac episode while at the local surf club.
'Unfortunately, I started to feel very faint and I fainted,' she said.
'They said that my heart had stopped for five seconds and I had a very low heart rate.'
She was then fitted with a pacemaker.
Fraser's recovery hasn't been easy, and she's lost 22kg and briefly became depressed.
'It's been a nightmare, she's been a nightmare,' her daughter Dawn-Lorraine told Ten.
Jackson said 'I always saw her as invincible.'
Since she returned home, Australia's 'living treasure' said she was a 'little bit fragile on her feet' and 'it's a fight every day'.
But she has returned to the pool to rebuild her strength.
'So I've just started (swimming), and I've got to accept that doing that sort of exercise that I used to do when I was training has kept me going.
'I think, you know that's very important for your health and for my family too.'
Fraser is one of Australia's greatest Olympic athletes winning two golds in the 100m freestyle and 4x100 free at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
She reclaimed gold in the 100m freestyle at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and again in 1964 at the Tokyo games.
She broke 27 world records and was the first female athlete to be handed a Legend status by the Australian Sport Hall of Fame in 1993.
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