Heather du Plessis-Allan says Barry Soper was ‘touch-and-go at one point’ when giving update on Newstalk ZB broadcaster after heart surgery

Newstalk ZB's Barry Soper in hospital on the eve of his open-heart surgery. Photo / Shayne Currie

It was “touch-and-go and one stage” for broadcaster Barry Soper during his open-heart surgery last Friday, his wife and fellow broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan said in an update today.

Du Plessis-Allan had earlier revealed to listeners that doctors had found a blockage in her husband’s heart “with weeks to spare”. She said she and the family – the couple have a toddler son, Iggy, and Soper has five more adult children – had “cried all the tears”.

Soper, ZB’s senior political correspondent, underwent triple-bypass surgery for about four hours on Friday.

The surgery was eventually a success, but this result did not come without complications.

“I’ll tell you, that was a stressful day. It was actually a bit touch-and-go at one point,” du Plessis-Allan told listeners this afternoon.

Photo / Greg Bowker

While in contact with an ICU nurse named Cathy during the surgery, she was told there had been a “bit of an ooze”.

“It turns out an ‘ooze’ meant two buckets of blood was lost,” du Plessis-Allan said.

After being paralysed to receive blood transfusions to rectify this issue, Soper began his recovery and is now “desperate to come back to work”, according to his wife.

“I went see him this afternoon and he is the best I have seen him, without a word of a lie, in months,” du Plessis-Allan.

“For the first time in months, his eyes are clear. He’s actually the meaning of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”

She said nurses were having a hard time keeping him in bed and asked listeners for their “thoughts and prayers” - for the nurses.

Last Thursday, Soper said he’d first started noticing issues about three weeks ago after one of his regular six-kilometre walks with Iggy from their central city home to the waterfront.

“Typical of males, I think - I was short of breath and I was slightly light-headed, and I thought, ‘Oh well’, and thought really nothing of it.”

After constantly denying anything was wrong, it was revealed two weeks later he had four blockages in the coronary arteries, caused by a build-up of calcium.

He suggested men should have regular check-ups, at least once a year. “The heart is the engine room of your body and everything you are. If that fails, of course, you’re not here.”

Soper paid tribute today to the medical staff including the nurses and surgery team, led by one of New Zealand’s most renowned surgeons, Indran Ramanathan. They had been superb, he said.

Soper, du Plessis-Allan and Newstalk ZB have received hundreds of messages of support. Politicians including Winston Peters and Christopher Luxon as well as Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ office have also all reached out.

“The generosity of New Zealanders, I find at times like this, is incredible. I accept the wishes of goodwill very humbly. It’s very nice,” said Soper.

He was holding out hope he could be behind the microphone for Newstalk ZB’s election-night coverage on October 14, alongside du Plessis-Allan, Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby, but that will depend on his recovery.