The 67-year-old has only recently been able to indulge her love of iceskating after staring death in the face last year.

Last May, she had been on the way to see the doctor for what she believed to be a chest infection when she was struck down with unbearable pain.

The doctor's clinic was just 100 metres away. "I was trying my hardest to get to the doctor's office and I was hanging on to a tree."

A good samaritan was able to get her to the surgery and an ambulance was called.

Later at MonashHeart she found out she had suffered from angina. Her arteries had hardened and become blocked.

Ms Wilkinson has a family history of heart disease. Her mother had died of angina and her father had three heart attacks.

But at 67, she thought she was home free. "All my brothers and sisters, they started having bypasses at 41 years of age."

Ms Wilkinson, an avid skater, said her time away from the ice was awful. "I didn't know whether I'd be able to get back to just about anything."

Skating became a symbol of everything she wanted to do again.

"I thought, If I can get back to that, I can get back to anything."