An Aussie Rules legend has revealed the cause of a huge health scare that led him to spend 10 days in a Melbourne hospital.

Aussie rules legend and media personality Sam Newman has revealed the cause of a major health scare that saw him spend 10 days in hospital.

Newman, who played 300 games for Geelong Football Club, is recovering after undergoing surgery at Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital.

Sharing a health update from his hospital bed, the 80-year-old said he had suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) – often called a “mini-stroke”.

Aussie Rules legend has spent 10 days in hospital after suffering a transient ischemic attack. Picture: YouTube/SmartASSam

“I lost my speech temporarily and lost strength in both my arms,” he said in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Sunday.

“But that was very short lived, five minutes.”

Newman said he had undergone an MRI, an ultrasound and a “bevy of tests”, before having surgery to widen an artery that “goes into my brain”.

“It took them a long time to find my brain but they eventually located it,” he said.

The footy icon called The Alfred “wonderful” and explained he had suffered “two little strokes” before being admitted.

“I haven’t had a stroke, well I have had a stroke, I’ve had two little strokes … first for a long time,” he said.

Newman said he might not have survived without his partner Sue Stanley, right, springing to action. Picture: YouTube/SmartASSam

He described his experience of the public health system as “interesting,” saying he had only been treated at a public hospital once before in 1967.

“I was admitted to The Alfred hospital. They don’t have my records from 60 years ago,” he said.

In another video posted to his channel, Newman shared an update after returning home from hospital, saying he might not have survived without his partner Sue Stanley springing into action.

“If this had happened to me what happened to me up while I was on a boat up in the Whitsundays a couple of years ago or going around Australia in a caravan … last year for nine months, if this had happened then, it might’ve been a different story,” he said.

“But I suffered a medial episode. And if Sue hadn’t been with me and summons the help that she did … (I) mightn’t be here.”

Newman, a host of the You Cannot Be Serious podcast, has been open about his past health issues, saying in June last year that he could be forced to amputate his foot.

The podcaster had been suffering from chronic pain in his right ankle, a result of several injuries sustained during his decorated Aussie Rules career.

He previously underwent ankle fusion surgery in 2021.