The retired telecommunications worker, who lived a fit and healthy life, also never thought he’d have a heart attack.

Awoken by splitting chest pain on a July morning in 2012, Mr Goodwin, self-described as ‘tough as old boots’, knew he needed an ambulance.

“I had three heart attacks which stopped the heart, six people working on me for three hours. They thought I was going to wake up in a vegetative state because it was that bad,” he said.

The next morning Mr Goodwin was covered in “black, blue, yellow and purple” bruises on his chest. 

“The doctors told me they were beginning to wonder whether it was worthwhile persisting. They were calling my wife for her to come and say goodbye but couldn’t get hold of her as her phone was turned off. I often wonder if they had got hold of her would they have persisted,” he joked.

Although “lucky” to survive, the now 74 year-old battles short-term memory loss and at times, a short temper.

“Sometimes I can't tell the different between being tired or being hungry, the brain has got that confused,” he said.

Despite having a family history of heart attacks, and Mr Goodwin himself suffering brain aneurysms in the months before his attack, he never thought it would happen to him.

Read more: Heart disease deaths high in central Victoria 

“I was getting shooting pains in the head so I went to the doctor about something else and mentioned it to him, which scans later proved I’d had heaps of aneurysms,” he said.

Mr Goodwin admitted a combination of his high pain threshold and worry-free Australian mentality was detrimental to his health.

“I don't worry about anything, it's pointless, it doesn't solve your problems,” he said.

He does however wish he had listened to his body weeks earlier. 

“I wasn't feeling great a few weeks before and I kept telling the wife ‘I feel crook, I feel like I'm dying,’” he said.

Mr Goodwin said he had a physical in Bendigo with his GP a week before his holiday, which showed nothing untoward.

“It changes your perspective on life. My attitude to life is to grab everything you can, because you never know when it's going to go,” he said.

He still plays guitar in two bands, mainly for local fundraisers.

Huntly resident Adam Palmer, 38, had a similar experience to Mr Goodwin earlier this month.

He too was feeling unwell, saw a doctor and had blood tests done. 

While at home with his family, Mr Palmer noticed the symptoms – shortness of breath, sweaty palms – straight away. 

One the hospital bed, Mr Palmer’s heart was restarted twice after it was discovered his right coronary artery was fully blocked.

Two stents were installed, providing instant relief to Mr Palmer’s body.

“The nurses said the colour just came back to me instantly,” he said.

Now, feeling the best he has in 18 months, Mr Palmer is urging people in a similar position to take control of their health.

“I’m fairly active, my job is full on and labour intensive some days - I had never thought much about it (health) until the last few months,” he said.

Read more: Region tackling more heart attacks

“It’s easy with hindsight now, but if you're not happy with how you're feeling and you’re not happy with the results you get from your doctor, push a bit harder because it is your personal health.”

“Mine was a near miss. To see the stress on the faces of your family makes you fight on, but some people don't get that opportunity.”

His thoughts were echoed by Mr Goodwin. 

“Go and get yourself checked out,” he said.

Central Victorians are at higher risk of heart-related deaths than the average Australian, data suggests.

The Heart Foundation’s ‘heart maps’ show that of the eight municipalities in the region, just one – Macedon Ranges – has a coronary heart disease mortality rate lower than the national average.

The rate of death in Loddon Shire is the highest in the region and the second highest in the state at 105 deaths per 10,000 people, behind Murrundindi.

Second-highest in central Victoria is the Central Goldfields, which also has the fourth-highest rate in the state.

The mortality rate for Greater Bendigo is 81.5 deaths per 10,000 people, while the national average is 75.5, according to the data, released late last year.

Two of the major risk factors for heart disease, smoking and obesity, are also high across central Victoria, the data suggests.

All municipalities, with the exception of Macedon Ranges, have rates of smoking higher than the national average.

Obesity is also more prevalent in all municipalities than Australia as a whole.

Central Goldfields has the highest rates of both obesity and smoking in Victoria.

The data also shows heart disease is more common in areas of greater socio-economic disadvantage.

In June, it was revealed Australian researchers had developed a blood test that could predict the long-term risk in people with severe coronary artery disease.   

The test detects an enzyme called ACE2 after researchers at The Austin health and University of Melbourne showed patients with coronary artery disease who had a high levels of ACE2 circulating in the blood were more likely to die or suffer from a heart attack over a period of 10 years.