John Wynd was doing something he does every morning, collecting the newspaper from the front of his house, when he felt something was wrong.
The 82-year-old Queanbeyan local has bradycardia, or a slow heartbeat, and knew what he was feeling could be serious.
He was taken to Queanbeyan Hospital before being transferred to Canberra Hospital for his operation.
He became the first to receive a Micra pacemaker in the ACT public health system.
He was also the first patient in the new critical services building at the Canberra Hospital, which opened only last week.
The leadless pacemaker, which is inserted directly into the heart through a puncture in the groin, limits a lot of the possible complications that can arise from traditional pacemakers which are placed in a patient's chest with leads running to the heart.
Mr Wynd, an avid Manly fan, was discharged within days of the operation, and said he was most looking forward to watching his beloved team play.
"When I first heard about it, I thought they were putting the device in my thigh," he said.
"That's a funny place to put a pacemaker."
He was also amazed at how tiny his new device was.
Heart rhythm expert Dr Mohammed Paymard, who performed the operation, said the device was an "excellent substitute" for elderly people and those with underlying health issues.
"Just opening up the top corner of the chest increases risk of bleeding and risk of infection," he said.
"[With Micra], the operation can be done in one hour under general anaesthetic ... facilitating faster recovery and dischargement."
Approximately 200,000 Australians have pacemakers or defibrillators, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said.
Of those, 70 to 80 per cent were implanted in patients 65 or older, the National Institutes of Health said.
Although the technology has existed since 2016, there has been limited access to it in the public system Australia-wide.
"Patients had to travel to Sydney and Melbourne, but now it is locally available ... it's a major achievement," said Dr Paymard.
