AFL great James Hird was rushed to hospital and put under general anaesthetic following a health episode when filming Channel Nine’s Footy Classified on Tuesday.
The Essendon legend, 53, was appearing as a panellist when he became distressed due to what has been reported as a ‘piece of dinner stuck in his throat’.
Viewers could hear Hird coughing during the opening stages of the show before he left the studio during the first ad break to vomit.
Despite the scare, the former Bombers captain completed the remainder of the program.
Host Eddie McGuire revealed that Hird had to be placed under anaesthetic to remove a blockage in his throat.
‘James did the show and went to emergency,’ McGuire said.
AFL great James Hird was rushed to hospital following a health episode when filming Footy Classified on Tuesday (pictured)
The 53-year-old Bombers legend suffered a throat blockage so severe ‘it was like he was drowning’, according to his co-host Eddie McGuire
‘They gave him general anaesthetic, put a tube down his throat and found a piece of lamb that was apparently blocking his esophagus.
‘It was like he was drowning because the saliva couldn’t get through.
‘Most people would take two months off work. Hirdy finished the show and he’s (already) out of hospital.’
One insider told News Corp: ‘He’s a warrior, that guy.’
Another described it as a ‘super professional performance’.
On Wednesday, Hird opened up about his health scare.
‘I had a bit of a choking episode on Footy Classified where I couldn’t breathe,’ he told ESPN.
‘I had a bit of meat stuck in my throat … I’m OK now.’
Essendon great James Hird and his wife Tania split in 2025 after 27 years of marriage
Tania and Hird (pictured coaching the Bombers in 2015) stuck together through the devastating effects of the Essendon drug scandal, which broke in 2013
Hird (pictured with Tania in 2007) hailed his wife for ‘trying to hold our family together’ as he hit rock bottom after the saga became the biggest story in Australian sport
Remarkably, Hird will film an episode of Footy Furnace on Wednesday for Channel Nine with co-host Jimmy Bartel.
After retiring as a player in 2007, Hird switched to the business world before becoming head coach of Essendon in 2011.
His time in the job saw him achieve initial success, but that came to a screaming halt in February 2013 when allegations of illegal drug and supplement use by his players were revealed.
With Hird at the helm, Essendon were at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the history of Australian sport, with 34 players found guilty on appeal of taking performance-enhancing drugs across the 2012 AFL season.
Hird opened up about the shattering effects of the Bombers drugs scandal in 2020, revealing he thought about taking his own life when he hit rock bottom
‘I remember sitting on my kitchen floor and everyone’s gone to bed, my wife’s upstairs, the kids are in bed, and I am sitting there, just crying on the ground,’ he said.
The decorated midfielder split from his wife Tania after 27 years of marriage last year, with the former glamour couple sharing three children.
Hird has transitioned into the media following a stint as part-time assistant coach at the GWS Giants.
The two-time AFL premiership winner has also served as the director of coaching at VFL side Port Melbourne.
