Heart op player back in the game

By CHRIS RATTUE

A rarely performed heart operation has given Blues and Auckland star Justin Collins a second chance at his rugby career.

The 30-year-old loose forward was relaxing at home yesterday, full of optimism after three years of desperate times as an irregular heartbeat left him with "absolute muscle fatigue and no recovery".

After a six-week course of blood-thinning drugs, Collins will resume contact training and be fit for consideration by round five of the NPC.

Within rugby, only coaches, medical staff and a few players knew the extent of Collins' problems.

There were some good times, especially in last year's Super 12, when the drugs worked and the Blues won the title.

But Collins reached his lowest ebb when the drugs lost effectiveness during the last NPC and this year's Super 12.

A desperate Collins then opted for surgery, which has a low success rate and a stroke risk. The five-hour operation was performed in Christchurch last Thursday by Dr Ian Crozier, who Collins understands is the only specialist doing the procedure.

It involved penetrating a chamber wall in the heart to deal with the flutter, although Collins was lucky here.

"One in four people have a hole in the chamber wall which makes it easier, and I'm one of those people," he said.

"Only 50 people have had the second part of the operation on the flutter. I tracked down other sportsmen with similar problems, but none who have returned to their sport."

Back in late 2001, the famously fit Collins found his Blues team-mates racing past him during 400m sprint sessions. He felt light-headed and his heart reached 230 beats a minute.

But before treatment, cardiologists needed to "capture" information. Twice, he roared away to the sideline after his heart began to flutter during training, only for the condition to disappear as he was hooked up to a monitor.

It eventually struck daily, making Collins anxious and short of breath.

"My career was on the line. It affected my home life. I was grumpy and angry although [wife] Justine was very supportive," he said.

"But the morning after the operation I felt like I did three years ago. There is a 95 per cent chance of a full recovery.

"I was looking old and slow. Now I've got something to prove. I'm starting again."