{"id":938346,"date":"2026-10-23T18:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T18:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938346\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T18:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T18:42:12","slug":"nrl-2026-all-blacks-great-sonny-bill-williams-has-open-heart-surgery-bulldogs-roosters-aortic-valve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938346\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams has open heart surgery, Bulldogs, Roosters, aortic valve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NRL and All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams says he could have died at any moment after doctors discovered a life-threatening heart condition.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Australia\u2019s Tour of South Africa Live &amp; Exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/cricket?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkcricket-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-cri-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Williams has undergone open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve and reconstruct another valve.<\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? 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For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>He was worried that he wouldn\u2019t survive the surgery, which was done at Melbourne\u2019s Austin Hospital recently.<\/p>\n<p>The 41-year-old Williams took to social media on Friday night in a video to share his ordeal.<\/p>\n<p>He revealed he had the condition throughout his decorated sporting career which included premierships at the Bulldogs and Roosters.<\/p>\n<p>He even boxed Paul Gallen with it just 15 months ago unaware that he could have dropped dead at any moment. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d Williams said of the operation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDay two, honestly \u2026 I thought I wasn\u2019t going to make it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe doctor said, \u2018it\u2019s a miracle that you found it because it\u2019s a case where a perfectly fit-looking person could drop dead\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Best looking to test open market | 01:07<\/p>\n<p>MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n<p>NOV 1 WC WINNERS\/LOSERS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-november-1-winners-and-losers-after-rugby-league-world-cup-form-jack-bostock-1-million-player-jake-trbojevic-future-unknown-what-will-happen-to-tom-trbojevic-analysis\/news-story\/15807350d9a0bcb497157fd66f731cca\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Career-threatening twist; contender\u2019s $1.4m tightrope<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018WANTED TO STAY\u2019: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-jamayne-isaakos-honest-admission-over-storm-move-what-did-he-say-dolphins-news-reaction\/news-story\/43af54e9d8e7afb0ab8461de14876c93\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Star makes raw admission over \u2018tough\u2019 club switch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He said he initially misjudged the magnitude of the surgery, which his surgeon described as two major operations in one.<\/p>\n<p>The condition could have worsened over time and caused blood to leak backwards through the valve or a narrowing that restricts blood flow.<\/p>\n<p>Surgeon Dr Michael O\u2019Keefe said: \u201cIt\u2019s one of the only operations in cardiac surgery we do that puts you back on a normal life expectancy curve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amazingly, Williams could still play sport again at a competitive level and his surgeon even said the condition would have impacted his athletic performance over the years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that you did so well at such a high level just goes to show you how fit you must have been to be able to compensate for it,\u201d Dr O\u2019Keefe said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve been playing with a handicap, which you hadn\u2019t realised for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The condition affects just two per cent of the population, but everyone with it develops serious complications.<\/p>\n<p>Williams gave O\u2019Keefe an All Blacks jumper as a gift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had such a special life, and there were times and moments in the last seven days in particular where I didn\u2019t know if this was my time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL and All Blacks great Sonny Bill Williams says he could have died at any moment after doctors&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85],"class_list":["post-938346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}