H&A’s Ray Meagher, 76, reveals his health struggle after a life-saving triple bypass surgery

He has portrayed the beloved iconic character of Alf Stewart for nearly three decades on the long-running soap Home and Away.  

But off-screen Ray Meagher has been battling a terrifying medical condition.  

Alf was recently forced to get a stent in order to fix a blockage in his heart, following  a life-saving triple bypass surgery last year.   

A stent is a small tube inserted into a blocked artery or duct to keep the passageway open.

Ray told New Idea magazine he got the stent after suffering symptoms following the bypass.

‘I was on one of those walks, going up a very steep hill, when I did feel a little bit of shortness of breath and just a twinge,’ he explained.

But the actor insisted that he has never felt better after getting the stent.  

‘I’ve never been fitter and have been working long days on Home and Away,’ Ray told the publication. 

Turning his attention to the show, Ray said the soap was trying to catch-up on episodes after a forced nine-week closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.           

In August last year, Ray was hospitalised and required surgery after doctors found three ‘serious’ blockages within his heart vessels.   

Ray had to have the triple bypass after what was supposed to be a routine health check. 

The Herald Sun reported at the time that Ray was scheduled for open heart surgery the day after his health check due to ‘the extent of coronary calcification’.

Coronary calcification is the build-up of calcium in the arteries, which can cause blood vessels to narrow and heart disease to develop.