Barry Soper discusses health battles and becoming a father again – Ask Me Anything with Paula Bennett

Barry Soper nearly died after heart failure and multiple complications last year.

One year after life-changing heart issues, long-time Newstalk ZB political journalist Barry Soper has opened up on the impact his health battles have had on him.

Around August 2023, after weeks of battling breathlessness, Soper was convinced by his wife, Newstalk ZB drive host Heather du Plessis-Allan, to go in for a test.

Speaking to Paula Bennett on her NZ Herald podcast Ask Me Anything, Soper said he got a phone call while preparing to go to a launch for Steven Joyce’s book, and his doctor told him of her concerns about his results.

“I went, ‘Look, can we talk about this tomorrow? Because I’ve got a function I’ve got to go to.’ And she said, ‘No, you’re not going anywhere. You’re going to hospital now.’”

Tests had revealed his aortic artery was 90% blocked with calcium, which had affected two other vessels too.

Soper was sent to a cardiologist, who told him he needed open heart surgery. He had a triple bypass in September.

Initially, all seemed well.

“I felt on top of the world. And that’s what I would say to anyone that has the surgery, you won’t feel that bad and don’t worry about going into it. People do worry a lot, but it’s not that bad. They can do anything with the heart these days.

“But unfortunately, on the way to the loo, mine stopped. And so they rushed in and did CPR. It broke ribs, broke my chest bone, it broke everything.

“They brought me back, and I wasn’t in a great shape.”

Soper ended up getting infected and spending three months in hospital, needing a further six operations to get him back to health.

“It was an experience that I would never want to repeat,” Soper said. “Three months in hospital was like being in prison.

“And for the last two months, I was eating ice in the morning, ice at lunchtime, and ice at dinner. That’s all I was allowed to eat, because they feed you intravenously. And it was awful. And I couldn’t read. I couldn’t listen to anything.”

He said the hardest thing was being confined to his bed for most of that time, which led to him having to learn how to walk again.

“I used to look at people out my window and I’d watch people walking along the street and I was thinking, ‘They’re so lucky, they can walk.’”

While Soper is back on his feet now, the lingering effects of this health battle mean he’s had three more stints in hospital this year, as well as a seventh surgery.

But he is focused on staying healthy for January, when his seventh child – and second with du Plessis-Allan – is due.

Soper told Bennett that if anyone had told him he’d still be raising toddlers at his age (73), he’d think they were nuts, but he is loving raising their 2-year-old, Iggy, and is looking forward to his new daughter coming next year.

“One can only hope that I live long enough for her, first of all, to remember her dad, although she’ll have older brothers and sisters who’ll tell her about the dad. But I would like to see her get to a reasonable age so that she doesn’t forget me.”

Listen to the full episode for more from Soper about what he’s learned from raising six children and now being a grandparent, more insights from his health battles, and his thoughts on one year of the coalition Government.

Ask Me Anything is an NZ Herald podcast hosted by former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett. New episodes are available every Sunday.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.