When Western Bulldogs supporter Rob McCarthy woke up after having a heart attack at the MCG on grand final day, he only wanted to know one thing.

"Did the Doggies win?" he asked.

"That's when I put my thumb up and everybody [in the crowd] started clapping and cheering.

"They knew I'd survived so that was nice."

Chain of survival CPR needs to be started within 60 seconds

CPR needs to be started within 60 seconds Within 3 minutes the brain starts to be permanently damaged

Within 3 minutes the brain starts to be permanently damaged The longer it takes to get to a defibrillator, the less likely it will be successful

Mr McCarthy, 64, was saved by off-duty paramedic Liam Moore who performed CPR.

"I knew that when I got there he still had a pulse, we still had a chance," he said.

Someone got a defibrillator, which was installed in the MCG just for this reason, and shocked his heart into a normal rhythm.

He was taken to hospital where doctor's performed life-saving surgery.

"I actually said to one of the girls who were sitting next to me I hope they have an ambulance out the front of the MCG cause I'm probably going to have a heart attack if we win," Mr McCarthy said.

"How prophetic was that? It wasn't what I anticipated."

When he woke up Mr McCarthy wanted to know if the Bulldogs had won. ( AAP Image: Julian Smith )

Cardiologist Dr Nick Cox said the quick-thinking paramedic started Mr McCarthy's "chain of survival".

"CPR was started straight away, so blood was able to be pumped to his brain an his brain was able to survive," he said.

Dr Cox was asked if the stress of a footy match could actually bring on a heart attack.

"It can but you probably have to have a bit of a problem as well," he said.

"In Rob's case there was a narrowing of the artery which was unrecognised and he'd not had symptoms before."

More defibrillators needed in public places

Mr McCarthy thanked his rescuers for their help and is now using his story to push for the need for more defibrillators to be located in public places.

"Businesses and whatever start looking at getting defibrillators and teach people how to do CPR," Mr McCarthy said.

"The paramedic might be 10 minutes away, five minutes away, and the defibrillator could be the item that might save your life."

But just having more defibrillators around is not enough, Dr Cox said.

"More important we need people who know how to use them and people who are brave enough to make the call, to hook the machine up, to follow the instructions and to follow that [with] training," he said.

Mr McCarthy said he would get the all clear from the doctor before he watched the last 10 minutes of the game he missed.