MANILA, Philippines — Appearing in San Miguel Beer’s game in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Sunday for the first time, head coach Leo Austria bared that he recently underwent angioplasty due to a heart condition that was detected several weeks ago.
Speaking to sportswriters, Austria shared that he simply went through the regular medical checkup in order to comply with the Games and Amusement Board requirement as he was renewing his license.
“June 18, we have a medical check-up to comply with GAB license renewal. Then, we found out that something’s wrong with ECG (electrocardiogram). Immediately, I showed it (result) to my cardiologists and Dr. Tony Leachon told me that I have to undergo a stress test,” Austria said, who on Sunday sat behind the SMB bench as the team played against NLEX at the Araneta Coliseum.
Austria went through a series of tests with the results pointing to blocked arteries.
The multi-titled PBA coach said this led his doctors to recommend he take an angiogram.
“The scans revealed and confirmed everything,” he said in Filipino. “I need to undergo angiogram and then it was confirmed that my arteries were blocked.” The 68-year-old San Miguel bench tactician said he was “lucky” because his situation was discovered earlier. Otherwise, something worse could have happened.
“The last three weeks before the examination, I’m feeling well. But I’m so lucky because the doctors told me, ‘You are a walking bomb.' Good thing I did not collapse,” he explained.
Austria said prior to the heart procedure, he still attended the team practice on July 3 and 4, but shortly after the SMB training, he already headed to the hospital.
“My friend (doctor) Tony Leachon, he has a team at the Manila Doctors, so he arranged everything, and then all of a sudden, I had angioplasty,” he added.
The 11-time PBA champion coach said he got discharged from the hospital on July 9, and thought he could coach the Beermen on their first game.
But San Miguel team governor Robert Non told him to get the needed rest first. His lead assistant Peter Martin called the shots for the squad in lieu of Austria, guiding the Beermen to a 3-0 start, before SMB suffered its first defeat on Sunday following its 110-96 loss to NLEX.
For the moment, Austria is still dealing with the side effects from the medication he is taking.
“The problem is the side effects of the medicine. Until now, my stomach feels bloated and (it’s) very uncomfortable. The worst thing is the bloated (feeling) happens in the evening,” explained Austria, who led San Miguel to the Philippine Cup this season.
Austria said once the side effects of the medicine is gone, he hopes to finally, resume his head coaching duty for the Beermen.
San Miguel swings back to action on Wednesday when it battles Terrafirma at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
