Heart of a Champion (16 page)

As the press conference went on, the old Plucky began to reappear. Greg joked that he suffered from a range of problems…ventricular tachycardia, haemochromatosis and asthma. Bob Babbitt piped up: ‘And don't forget haemorrhoids!' Greg thanked Bob for that painful reminder. He was back to his best when he thanked his old mentor Scott Tinley for all his kindness when he first came to San Diego in 1990: ‘Scott Tinley gave me his heart.' Tinley replied from the audience: ‘That's why it's busted.'

As always, Scott Tinley had another view of Greg's situation. He put it like this: ‘Am I the only one who is happy for Greg? First of all, he is alive and healthy enough to lead a productive, fulfilling life. We could have just as easily been going to his funeral, all saying the same thing— “What a shame.” Second, I surmise that those who mourn for Greg are actually wallowing in their own denial of the ageing process. Of course, we will miss his humorous antics, his thrilling run speed and his constant upbeat attitude. But guess what, folks? Life goes on after sport, and Greg will succeed at whatever venue he decides to dwell in. Maybe he will slow down a bit, but I doubt that he will morph into any different being than his impish, lovable Welchy self.

‘I celebrate his incredible career, appreciate his courage and strength in this, his most difficult race, and welcome him into the line-up at my local surf spot. Life deals us all difficult and seemingly unfair hands at times. It is what we do with them that counts, not what the cards show.

‘Be happy for the guy. He is a warrior returning from battle in one piece. We should all be so lucky to have visited such rare heights as he. Let Greg take his wisdom and spread it to those who walk around on the edge like he did for so long.'

One of Greg's doctors, cardiologist Dr Emily Scott from San Diego's Mercy Hospital, spoke at the press conference in support of his decision to retire immediately because of the dangers posed by his v-tach. She also answered an inevitable question from journalists: could performance-enhancing drugs have caused Greg's problems? Dr Scott said that there was no way a blood-boosting drug such as EPO could have caused the problem because there was simply no mechanism for that to happen. She ended on an optimistic note: not only was treatment available for v-tach, but there was also some hope for a cure.

Dr Ken Carr, the doctor who examined Greg after his attack in the pool in San Diego, later told reporters that he believed that Greg's tachycardia may have been caused by viral bronchitis, which Greg and Sian both picked up in the week before the 1999 Hawaiian Ironman. ‘I think both he and Sian probably had the same viral illness. That viral illness is probably very common…and there's a small percentage of people who get the viral infection in their heart and it affects their heart. Sian recovered completely, and Greg didn't.'

Perhaps Tim Carlson from
Inside Triathlon Magazine
best summed up the impact of Greg's retirement on his sport: ‘The news of his retirement at the age of 35 stunned fans as much as Lance Armstrong's battle with cancer. Until he was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia, Greg Welch only seemed like he was living at 300 beats per minute.'

Chapter 12
Heartache

A
FTER THE PRESS CONFERENCE
, Greg walked out into the next stage of his life. No longer a professional athlete, he decided to look forward to becoming a father as well as having a career as a sports commentator and triathlon coach. He went home and immediately started researching for his broadcast work on ironmanlive.

By this stage, Greg had been subjected to chest X-rays, MRIs, angiograms, echocardiograms, a heart biopsy and a swag of other tests, but none had been able to locate either the underlying cause or the exact location of his problem.

Greg was determined to live as normally as he could, so in early March 2000, he and Sian travelled to Lake Taupo in New Zealand for the NZ Ironman—Greg to commentate for the US sporting network ESPN TV and on ironmanlive.com, and Sian to compete. ‘Greg thought it would be good for me to go to the Ironman in New Zealand, so I concentrated on training for that race,' she says. ‘I went to the race ready physically but dropped out after the bike leg with complete exhaustion. I remember doing that race and all I felt was sadness and regret. Greg just thought it was a bad day but I knew it was more than that.'

It wasn't a happy trip. Sian pulled out after the bike ride with problems and Greg slipped into v-tach during his commentary. By the time they returned to Sydney on the Monday after the race, Greg was constantly in and out of v-tach. During breakfast at Cronulla mall, Greg asked Sian to check his pulse again. This time they knew it was v-tach.

‘We called up Dr Mackie at home, at 8.30 in the morning, and I told him I was in v-tach. He said, “Go straight to the surgery and I'll be right there.” Once I got there and he hooked me up, I dropped straight out of v-tach again.'

Dr Mackie hooked Greg back up again and he immediately kicked back into v-tach. Alarmed, Dr Mackie called an ambulance and admitted Greg to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he was placed under the care of noted Sydney cardiologist Dr Mark Maguire. Greg remained there for three days, going through the same range of tests he had endured in Los Angeles. But, no matter how hard he ran on the treadmill—and he ran virtually at race pace—he couldn't kick-start the v-tach. Just as before, the tests were inconclusive, but as his condition had improved substantially since his admission, Greg was finally discharged and returned home.

This time Greg eased up on his exercise. He resorted to walking each day, while Sian continued her normal routine of running, riding and swimming. A few days later, while he was out on a gentle trail walk in the Royal National Park, Greg suddenly went into v-tach again. It was straight back into hospital and into the operating theatre for a series of electrophysiology (EP) studies to assess his heart's electrical function. ‘It wasn't pleasant, but at this early stage I felt no anxiety nor was I threatened by this killer heart rate.'

Greg spent the weekend in Royal Prince Alfred's Cardiac Care Unit. Dr Maguire hoped the EP study would enable him to find the exact sites inside Greg's heart that were causing his abnormal heart rhythms. During the 6-hour procedure, Dr Maguire inserted special electrode catheters— long, flexible wires—through the veins in Greg's inner thigh and guided them into his heart. The catheters would sense electrical impulses in various areas of his heart. They would also be used to stimulate different parts of the heart to induce the v-tach so the surgical team could try to pinpoint its origin.

As Dr Maguire explained to Greg and Sian, the heart's rhythmic contractions depended on its unique electrical system, which conducted electrical impulses throughout the organ. These normally began in the sinus node, a group of specialised cells in the right atrium, which acted as the heart's ‘natural pacemaker'. The impulses travelled along set paths and spread throughout the atria, making them contract and squeeze blood into the ventricles. Then they reached the atrioventricular node, between the atria and the ventricles, and moved on to the ventricles via a system of specialised muscle fibres. This system distributed the impulses through a network of smaller fibres into the ventricles, causing them to contract and pump the blood.

Dr Maguire told Greg that his problem—tachycardia, or uncontrolled rapid heart rhythms—could have started in his atria, his atrioventricular node or his ventricles. In Greg's case, the most likely cause was ventricular tachycardia, which resulted from abnormal electrical pathways in the ventricles. Often the electrical signals started travelling in a circular pattern, causing the ventricles to contract with each cycle.

This usually meant that the heart did not have sufficient time to fill with blood between beats, depriving the brain and the body of the necessary blood and oxygen, and causing light-headedness, shortness of breath, chest pain or fainting. Ventricular tachycardia was usually regarded as the most serious because it was the ventricles that did most of the pumping in the heart.

Dr Maguire had a number of goals for Greg's EP study. First, he aimed to ‘map' the exact location of the heart's abnormal electrical activity. This would help determine the best treatment options. Second, if he were able to induce v-tach, he could test the impact of various medications through an intravenous line in order to find the most effective one. Third, once he had mapped the problem area, he could use a special ‘ablation catheter' and, by using radio-frequency waves, destroy the errant pathway, using heat to form scar tissue so that the abnormal conduction could no longer pass through it.

For Greg it was a seemingly endless series of tests and attacks. ‘My Mum came to visit me while I was in recovery after the surgery. She leant over and kissed me…and sent me into v-tach, strictly through emotion. I remember it sounded off the alarms and the staff flew from all angles as if there were a fire to put out.'

Dr Maguire performed two EP studies. He thought he had located the problem area and disabled it. Greg was optimistic after he received the all clear to leave hospital. ‘I had two EP studies in the space of a week. And then I went to the World Championships in Perth. I'd been made the ambassador for the Championships and they'd built a special Greg Welch Grandstand and other stuff. I felt obliged to go, so I did the commentary.'

In Perth, Greg suffered some more mild attacks. He called his doctors and they told him to come in as soon as he returned. Back in Sydney, the cycle started again—more v-tach attacks, back into hospital, more EP studies, many lasting six or more hours. ‘I had three done in the space of eight weeks. On 21 August, I had my fourth EP study by Dr Maguire, the fifth one overall. It was just weeks out from the Olympics.'

After the last EP study, Dr Maguire mentioned the possibility of treating the attacks by inserting a defibrillator, specifically an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD. This small battery-powered electrical device would be implanted inside Greg's body. It would continuously monitor his heartbeat, and if it detected any dangerous rapid heart rhythms, it would deliver an 800-volt electric pulse to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.

Greg was not keen on the defibrillator. He still hoped that his doctors would be able to locate and neutralise the errant electrical pathway in his heart so that he could lead a relatively active life. Dr Maguire didn't press the issue. He told Greg and Sian the good news: Greg was showing no signs of ventricular fibrillation, where multiple sites in the ventricle fired impulses rapidly and erratically—a far more serious condition than ventricular tachycardia. It was extremely dangerous because during an attack the heart quivered rapidly and delivered little or no blood to the body. It usually led to cardiac arrest, requiring rapid emergency treatment. Without treatment, the patient would die.

‘He said, “Your heart's so strong, you can withstand virtually any type of v-tach.” I wasn't showing signs of any type of ventricular fibrillation because my arteries were fine. They just said, “You've just got ventricular tachycardia.” I thought, “That's like asthma or something. You have to deal with that.”'

Just three months after Greg announced his retirement, Sian had also given up the sport she loved. She took everyone by surprise when, after accepting the prize for second place at the 2000 Australian Ironman at Forster on 11 April, she said she could no longer continue racing. She recalls, ‘I just broke down. My parents were there. In fact, I didn't even think I could start the race. I didn't train for about four weeks. I did about one or two bike rides. I just didn't know what was wrong with me. I was so depressed. And here I had a husband who was sick. I got second but I knew I had to retire. I couldn't do it anymore. Even though Greg was coaching me and extremely enthusiastic about me racing, I didn't have any motivation anymore. I got through the race and placed second, but immediately retired from the sport.

‘I think Greg was devastated that I decided to retire so abruptly. In retrospect I think me doing the sport helped him cope with things because he enjoyed helping me with my training. I just felt confused and lost and helpless because I wanted to help Greg. The problem was, nothing I did seemed to help him. I felt I was making him worse. I understand now that when something traumatic happens to you or someone you love it hits you in different ways. I was in panic and I felt this overwhelming anxiety. I gave up triathlon so I didn't have any focus anymore.'

It was a big call for Sian, winner of the Australian Ironman in 1998, as she'd been in the best form of her career in the preceding months, with two wins in the first two triathlons of 2000 in Chile. She told Greg of her plans immediately before she went on stage. ‘He said, “Are you sure?” He didn't know why. He loved to watch me race. I think I had to give it up because I felt so bad for him. I just retired. It was a huge announcement.'

While embroiled in all his health dramas, Greg had been invited by the Seven Network, host broadcaster for the Sydney Olympics, to commentate on the triathlon events. He accepted without reservation. He was delighted to play a role at the Games, even if it wasn't the starring role he'd dreamed about. He forgot his health problems and threw himself into the festive atmosphere as Sydney counted down the days to the greatest show ever to hit town.

He and Sian had just bought and moved into a new house in the Shire at Caringbah. Sian had started to coach Jo King, an Australian champion triathlete, and Greg was busy with a round of charity events and a growing list of motivational speaking engagements. He was back in his element. He spent time with family and friends, and he studied the form of all the athletes competing in Sydney. He talked to the competitors about their plans and dreams. He helped to advise the Aussie team, sharing his unique knowledge of the course, their opponents and strategies. He enthusiastically joined in the preparations and build-up to the broadcast, and reacquainted himself with the commentary team. Most of all, he lapped up the opportunity to mix with the legion of former sporting greats from Australia and around the world who had gathered in Sydney for the September Games.

‘Things had started to settle. I was put on heart medication and seemed to get back to normal life for a while. Then things started getting a little funny again. At the end of August, I had another EP study done.'

Immediately after the surgery, Greg was hit with a vicious bout of flu, lasting three weeks. Sian was away in Los Angeles. His immune system was under constant attack, yet he focused his thoughts on the forthcoming Games, where he and Sian would spend 16 days in sporting heaven. He was feeling much better by the time they saw the spectacular opening ceremony. ‘I only had to work the first two days— Saturday for the women's triathlon and Sunday for the men's. That was it. Overpaid and underworked. Then we had the best fun. Sydney 2000 was the best time of our lives.'

Greg called the triathlon events alongside the Seven Network's chief commentator Bruce McAvaney from a temporary structure on the rock outcrop overlooking the Sydney Opera House. It was a magnificent position, giving a bird's-eye view of the swim, the transition area and the finish line. Greg was thrilled when Michellie Jones, whom he had once dated, took silver in a thrilling finish to the women's race. The call went well and he was surprised when he felt no regrets as he watched the race unfold. The following day, it was a different story for the men's event.

‘I was fine, right up until the closing stages, when Simon Whitfield from Canada and Stephan Vuckovic of Germany broke away and were screaming down the Macquarie Street hill to the roundabout and up into the courtyard of the Opera House.

‘Bruce was doing the call, and he threw to me and I was just standing there, thinking, “That should have been me.” Everyone had been telling me the whole time it was going to come down to a 10-km (6.2-mile) run. We knew that would happen four years out. But it really hit me then. Afterwards, Bruce said, “You all right?” I said, “Yeah.” I think for the first time I just realised that it should have been mine. That was such an easy race.'

The feeling passed quickly as Greg and Sian joined the partying. Steve Loader, Greg's old Cronulla surf club mate, was on the Qantas marketing team, and he gave them entree to the company's exclusive VIP area in the Olympic precinct. ‘We went there every day, between all the events. We ate the chocolate ice creams and got stuck into all the fatty foods and talked to Kieren Perkins and Nick Doohan and all the other athletes.'

Greg and Sian went to almost every day of track and field and nearly every swimming event. They watched the gold medal soccer match, the US Dream Team's gold medal basketball game and the Hockeyroos. They went to the velodrome, the volleyball, everywhere they could. They saw 18 events in 16 days.

‘And I was an official ambassador to the Home nightclub at Darling Harbour. Every night after the events, we'd get the train, go into Home and we'd stay there till about 4, 5 in the morning. I wasn't drinking, though Sian had a few. We just danced all night.