Sonny Bill Williams Reveals Life-Saving Open-Heart Surgery in Emotional Video

Sonny Bill Williams has revealed he is lucky to be alive. In a 24-minute video posted to YouTube on Friday titled "My Heart Stopped," the 41-year-old All Blacks legend disclosed he recently underwent life-saving open-heart surgery in Melbourne.

Williams revealed he was born with a congenital heart defect — a bicuspid aortic valve issue — that went undetected throughout his entire playing career, only surfacing during a routine check-up following his fourth neck operation earlier this year. Doctors discovered his heart had grown to 7.5 centimeters and was at risk of rupturing. "My heart was about to pop," he said.

At Melbourne's Austin Hospital, surgeon Dr Michael O'Keefe performed what was described as "two major operations in one" — replacing Williams' aortic valve and reconstructing another in a Ross procedure lasting more than four hours. "That's the hardest thing I've ever done," Williams said. "Day two, honestly… I thought I wasn't going to make it."

Remarkably, Williams boxed Paul Gallen 15 months ago unaware that the condition could have killed him. He won two Rugby World Cups with the All Blacks (2011, 2015), 58 Tests between 2010 and 2019, NRL premierships with the Bulldogs and Roosters, and compiled a 9-2 professional boxing record.