Woodchopping has been a lifelong passion for Naracoorte man, Kahu Woolley, but he was lucky to walk away from his most recent competition.
Kahu picked up an axe just four weeks ago over the border in Noorat, Victoria, ready to compete as he has done for decades.
“I had an unexpected cardiac arrest that basically killed me on the spot,” he said.
The heart attack left Kahu, 44, clinically dead multiple times over the course of 15 minutes.
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“I was halfway through a race, cutting a log with an axe,” he said.
“I felt like I was basically running out of steam and my vision was going a bit blurry.
“Normally, I can finish those logs off in 20–30 seconds, but this time I was really struggling with it.”
After that block, with a large crowd watching, Kahu walked back to his wife, Kirsty.
“I walked back over to my axe box, put the axe in the box, sat down on the chair and I said to my wife, ‘There’s just something wrong’,” he said.
“My chest then did start to tighten up. I just couldn’t breathe and I basically died in her arms.”
Kahu’s heart attack came mid-competition. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
Quick actions save a life
Kahu’s wife called over friends of his, who knew CPR, and saw the signs of what was happening.
“They put me on the ground, cut my shirt off and started doing CPR instantly, because I had no pulse,” he said.
One of those there to help was Scott Anderson, president of the Western Victorian Axemen’s Association.
The association has had a defibrillator since it received a grant back in 2019.
“A couple of our members have done our first aid training, so we grabbed the defibrillator and proceeded to go through the steps,” Mr Anderson said.
“There have been some cases of competitors in the past having cardiac arrests and [defibrillators] weren’t available.
“It’s something we didn’t expect to have to use, but we’re very glad we had it there.”
Kahu is back at work in his Naracoorte repair shop. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
The defibrillator brought Kahu’s pulse back for 20 seconds before his heart stopped beating again.
This happened about four times over the course of 15 minutes.
“I don’t remember anything from when I spoke to my wife until I came to in the helicopter where the paramedic was standing over me letting me know we were about to take off to Geelong Hospital,” he said.
“If they hadn’t got the defibrillator I think I would’ve been too late to make it to the ambulance or the helicopter.”
In hospital, doctors put a stent in through Kahu’s right arm to open up a collapsed artery.
Kahu has had to look back into his own genetic history. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)
A dive into family history
For Kahu, who was adopted into his family at six months old, the incident led to a dive back into his genetics.
“My mother dug a little bit deeper and found out [my genetic father] had [a] history of heart issues when he was 20,” he said.
“Obviously, there was an underlying hereditary issue there that has caused it.”
You can save a life
Heart Foundation South Australia general manager Claire Gardner said she encouraged anyone with symptoms like Kahu’s to call Triple Zero (000) straight away.
“What people can do is look at ways to prevent heart disease or heart attacks,” she said.
“It doesn’t discriminate and it can happen to anyone at any time.”
Ms Gardner said lifestyle changes, including eating a healthy diet, being active, not vaping or smoking and minimising alcohol intake can all help reduce the risk.
Kahu hopes to get back to woodchopping competitions in the new year. (ABC Ballarat: Dominic Cansdale)
While, fortunately, Kahu has no long-term heart damage, he is getting a defibrillator for his house.
“We’ve got five children who range from 23 to 15 years old,” he said.
“It still hasn’t really settled in [for them] that Dad possibly couldn’t be around at the moment.
“I’ve had a second chance at life, so I’ve just got to carry on and keep going forward.”
