The cat is out of the box now: San Miguel Beermen coach Leo Austria dealt with—and is still recovering from—a serious medical setback.
Austria, who hasn’t coached San Miguel this conference, at least made the trip to the playing venue on Sunday—the first time he’s been seen by fans in this season-ending tournament. And after San Miguel’s 110-96 loss to the NLEX Road Warriors at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, reporters caught up with the multitled coach, who in turn bared why he has been sidelined thus far in this PBA Governors’ Cup.
Routine Checkup Reveals Something Serious
Speaking to reporters postgame, Austria bared that a routine checkup started a chain of events that ultimately led to him getting a much-needed—and potentially life-saving—medical procedure.
“June 18, meron kaming medical checkup para maka-comply doon sa renewal ng GAB [Games and Amusements Board] license. ‘Yung result, we found out there was something wrong with my ECG [electrocardiogram],” bared Austria, who in turn consulted renowned cardiologists Dr. Tony Leachon and Dr. Rommel Galvez.
Austria emphasized he was still feeling healthy all that time and was, in fact, still running the Beermen’s practices. Then, on the advice of Dr. Leachon, Austria underwent a stress test that led to him getting an angiogram, which eventually revealed something life-threatening: blockages in Austria’s arteries.
“Sa stress test makikita kung anong klaseng puso meron ka. ‘Yung puso ko pala, mapagmahal eh…” he joked. “I mean, nakita ‘yung in-scan [na] there’s something wrong. To confirm everything, kailangan mag-undergo ako ng angiogram. Angiogram and then na-confirm ‘yun na my arteries are blocked… I’m so lucky because the doctor told me na you’re a walking bomb. Mabuti hindi ako nag-collapse.”
Austria Undergoes Angioplasty
The 68-year-old tactician underwent angioplasty on July 7 and was cleared to return to work on July 9. Unfortunately, according to Austria, the side effects of his medicines are keeping him preoccupied at the moment.
“Binigyan na ako ng medical certificate to go to work,” the coach stressed. “But the problem is the side effect of medicines. Nagkaroon ng rebolusyon sa tiyan ko. Until now, bloated ‘yung tiyan ko. Very uncomfortable. The worst thing is nangyayari ‘yung bloating in the evening, 11 until the morning.”
Now, it’s all about getting rest and working back up for the veteran coach, who added that he is confident he can already come back.
In fact, in his timeframe, that return is “just a matter of time.”
