Home and Away’s Ray Meagher opens up about his health battle after getting a triple bypass

Iconic Australian actor Ray Meagher recently revealed he underwent another emergency heart surgery – just six months after undergoing a triple bypass, last year.

And on Wednesday, the Home And Away star, who has played Alf Stewart on the long-running soap for over 30 years, opened up about his health battle and gave an update on how he was doing. 

Appearing on The Morning Show, the 76-year-old recalled the events leading up to his second procedure. 

After experience a lingering ‘tickle’ in his chest, Ray said his doctor decided to perform an electrocardiogram (ECG) to detect any abnormalities in his heart.    

‘[The doctor] sent that off to the cardiologist and he said “you better come in straightaway and we will check it out”,’ he explained.  

He immediately went to the hospital where he underwent several tests, before being taken in for surgery after they discovered a ‘blockage’. 

‘That same day, my cardiologist and the doctor that does the stents both happened to be at the hospital. I went straight across to another ward and they put [a stent] in,’ he explained.  

The actor is now recovering, and revealed he has been ‘singing and dancing’ ever since the procedure. 

A stent is a small tube inserted into a blocked artery or duct to keep the passageway open. 

In August last year, Ray was hospitalised and required surgery after doctors found three ‘serious’ blockages within his heart vessels.

According to Melbourne’s Herald Sun, Ray had to have a triple bypass after what was supposed to be a routine health check. 

Doctors were forced to act quickly after the results showed the star had multiple blockages.

The publication reports Ray was scheduled for open heart surgery the day after his health check due to ‘the extent of coronary calcification’.

Coronary calcification is the build-up of calcium in the arteries, which can cause blood vessels to narrow and heart disease to develop.