Former All Blacks rugby star Sonny Bill Williams says he has had successful open-heart surgery after discovering he was born with a heart defect. The news is based on details he shares in an emotional video posted on his YouTube channel, in which he describes the health scare and the near-death experience.
Across outlets, the core facts are consistent: Williams discusses finding the condition during a medical check-up and then undergoing open-heart surgery. Some reports explicitly mention that the discovery followed a routine check after a neck operation, and that he was 41 at the time of the update. Other outlets focus less on medical timeline details and instead lead with the emotional and personal nature of his disclosure, including the “heart stopped” framing.
