The defending champion was two sets down to Heydon and looked like heading for an early exit, but after being stung by a wasp on his left hand during a break returned to the stage to win the remaining three sets and hold on to his place in the £1 million tournament.
Lewis now takes on either Robert Thornton or Ian White next Thursday in the second round, having been both stunned and stung in the same contest.
"Nigel had me under the cosh throughout the match and I had to work really hard to get through that," said Lewis. "His finishing in the first two sets was phenomenal.
"I was telling myself at 2-0 down that I can play much better, but after that incident with the wasp I felt it wasn't my night. But I managed to fight all the way to the end - the wasp probably stung me into action!
Heydon started the match superbly by breaking the World Champion's throw with the aid of a maximum in the opening leg.
Heydon hit another 180 in the second leg, but Lewis levelled with a sensational 134 checkout where he hit treble 18, followed by two double tops.
Heydon, who lost in the first round to Robert Thornton on his debut appearance at the World Championship last year, hit a 70 finish to win third leg but Lewis won the fourth against the darts by hitting tops.
Lewis held the advantage of throw in the deciding leg, but Heydon secured a third consecutive break of throw in the set by hitting double top to take an early lead.
The undertaker from Leamington Spa made a good start to the second set as he won the first leg with a clinical 100 checkout.
Lewis won the second on double top before Heydon won the third leg by taking out 66 on double eight.
The world number two missed two darts at doubles to win the fourth leg and that proved expensive as Heydon converted a 65 finish to move two sets clear and leave Lewis in major trouble.
Lewis made a winning start to set three with the aid of a 95 finish before Heydon won the second by hitting double ten.
Lewis took the third leg, but Heydon hit a pressure 76 finish in the next with his opponent waiting on 24 to take the set.
That left Heydon needing just needing the deciding leg to record a straight-sets victory, but Lewis held his nerve to hit double top at the first time of asking to keep the match alive.
Heydon won the opening leg of the fourth set by hitting double nine before Lewis showed his best form of the game, hitting consecutive 13-dart finishes to take the next two.
The fourth leg saw Heydon miss five darts at doubles and that allowed Lewis to step in and hit double eight and force a deciding fifth set.
Heydon started the set well by hitting his sixth maximum in the process of taking the first leg against the darts.
The 41-year-old had three chances to establish a 2-0 lead, but three darts at double top were just off-target and Lewis converted a superb two-dart 97 finish to level.
Heydon hit a 180 in the third leg but missed a dart at double 16 and Lewis landed double five to move one leg away from victory.
Heydon won the fourth leg by hitting double top at the first time of asking and then won the fifth leg with a break of throw by landing double four with his last dart after Lewis missed six darts at doubles.
Heydon hit his eighth maximum of the match in the next, but Lewis was first to a finish and he hit double top at the first attempt to level the set at 4-3.
Lewis hit a fabulous 11-darter at a vitally important time to win the seventh leg, and two missed darts at double top from Heydon allowed him to step up and hit the same bed to end an enthralling contest.
A disappointed Heydon admitted: "I'm not happy about that. When I was 2-0 up I was hitting my doubles really well and I didn't think I was going to fold, as I was feeling so comfortable out there.
"But I started to miss a few doubles and you can't give those kind of opportunities to a class player like Adrian."
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