Brendan Fevola's alarming heart fear leads to surprising diagnosis

AFL great Brendan Fevola has been given a stark reminder not to take his health for granted after suffering a frightening heart attack.

The 43-year-old noticed something was wrong when he was having trouble breathing while climbing the 1,000-step path on Mount Dandenong with a friend.

While his friend chatted happily as he walked, the former Carlton and Brisbane striker could hardly catch his breath, let alone speak.

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Alarmed, he immediately went to a doctor to have a blood test done.

“I've had myself checked. I think it's important that everyone gets checked, but especially men over 40,” he told Fox FM.

“Because we men don't usually worry about it. I'll say, 'Oh, my heart hurts, it will go away,' and that's what we think mentally because we're stupid people.

“But the other day I walked 1,000 steps and had this heart app on my phone. When I got halfway through, I literally couldn't breathe anymore.”

Strangely, however, the app showed him that despite the shortness of breath that his cardiovascular system was working at full speed, his pulse was a comfortable 63, which would be a perfectly normal resting heart rate for a fit adult.