Encore: Andy Paschalidis on the death on the football pitch which changed everything

Conversations

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Football tragic Andy Paschalidis was in his 50s when a dear friend and fellow player died during an over-35s soccer game. The tragedy inspired him to begin a whole new story for himself, and the sport (R)

Andy grew up in Sydney's Balmain when it was a working-class suburb, full of migrant families. His parents had arrived in Australia from Greece a few years before, seeking a different life.

Andy grew up to be one of the first Greek-Australian sports broadcasters on TV and radio on SBS and 2GB, and he never lost his zeal for football.

When he was in his early 50s, Andy joined an ordinary weekend over-35s football game as he did each weekend.

His friend and fellow player Matt Richardson had a heart attack on the pitch that day and died. He was just 42 years old.

Then Andy discovered another friend had recently seen his teammate die exactly the same way.

He decided to take six months off work to find a way to reduce the number of deaths in Australian amateur football.

Since then Heartbeat of Football has saved many lives.

This episode of Conversations explores grief, mateship, masculinity, male health, health and wellbeing, heart attacks, heart disease, cardiac arrest, signs of heart attack, exercise, football, FIFA, soccer, senior sports, older sports, amateur sports, deaths on the field, health, safety, migration, migrant Australians, first generation Australians, post-war migration, Sydney.

When Andy's conversation with Richard first went to air, a listener named Kevin Whitby realised he was having a heart attack. Minutes later, he presented himself to the emergency department at Wollongong Hospital, where medical staff confirmed he needed immediate treatment.

Since we last spoke with Andy, last year in Sydney alone, six footballers (the youngest of which was 13 years old) have been saved in the midst of on-field cardiac incidents by the defibrillators provided by Andy's charity.

Learn more about the work of Heartbeat of Football.

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