NRL star opens up on the moment he thought he was having a heart attack while sat on the subs bench during a match

Hame Sele has lifted the lid on the ‘scary moment’ he thought he was having a heart attack while sat on the bench during an NRL match last season.

The St George Illawara prop claimed he had felt like his ‘chest was caving in’ after coming off the field during the Dragons’ 10-28 defeat by the Bulldogs in August.

Three months have passed since the incident, with Sele subsequently being ruled out of the Dragons’ final four games of the season having spent four nights in hospital. 

It came after the 27-year-old former Rabbitohs star had been suffering with flu-like symptoms the week prior but something more serious was taking place inside his body.

‘It was obviously a scary moment, I thought I was having a heart attack on the sideline,’ Sele told the Herald Sun.

‘(Zac) Lomax scored and I got up to celebrate and I just felt this weird pain all of a sudden. I told the doctor that I needed some pain medication.

‘It just happened really quickly. I felt like my chest was caving in with a sharp pain. I was lucky that Raymond Faitala-Mariner noticed it. He was sitting next to me and called the doctor over.’

Sele says he was rushed inside the ground stating: ‘It was crazy. It was just a scary experience.’

‘I was telling them I was in so much pain and I had never felt pain like this before. I thought I was going to collapse, the pain was that bad.’

He was subsequently taken to St George Hospital via an ambulance and was diagnosed with pericarditis, a condition in which the lining around the heart becomes inflamed.

Dragons star Hame Sele has opened up on how he feared he was having a heart attack during a game last season

Sele said he felt like his ‘chest was caving in’ after coming off the field to sit on the bench during the Dragons’ defeat by the Bulldogs in August 

Common symptoms include chest pain and discomfort and while pericarditis can last for some time it is understood that most people recover within a few weeks.

The illness is undertood to often be caused by a viral infection or an inflammatory condition, while injuries to the chest have also been said to be a cause.

‘A couple of weeks before that I’d been sick with fevers and feeling weak,’ Sele added.

‘I had the sweats at night and a bad cough. The week before (the Canterbury match) we played Melbourne.

‘The night before the game I started feeling chest pain and I was feeling a bit weird but I didn’t tell the doctor because the next day we had a game to play.

‘After the game I had a 5/10 pain in my chest. They thought maybe the ribs were inflamed from coughing.’

He added that he underwent several X-rays which came back all clear and made himself available to play against the Bulldogs.

Sele has endured an up-and-down year with injuries, with the 27-year-old previously being ruled out for seven games after suffering a fractured shoulder against the Bulldogs in round 12.

He has been given the green light to return to training in the past month and will join up with his St George team-mates for pre-season later in November.

But reflecting on his pericarditis diagnosis, Sele initially had fears that his NRL career was about to be cut short.

‘I kind of thought my career was probably over,’ Sele said, speaking on

‘Lucky they did all their tests to see what was causing the problem and told me it was a quick and easy fix with the right medications.

‘I’m lucky to come out on the other side fit and healthy. They’ve told me I will be all right.

‘I’m trying to find my feet again.’