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Anita Dobson has revealed she initially thought her husband Brian May’s 2020 heart attack was down to him ‘overdoing it’ after too much exercise.
However, the EastEnders legend, 73, was later shocked to learn the real extent of the 75-year-old Queen rocker’s ill health, when he was hospitalised and found to be ‘very near death’.
Speaking to The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden about Brian’s heart attack, Anita recalled: ‘He said, “Babe, I think I’m having a heart attack”, I said “No, you’ve been exercising and you’ve overdone it”.’
Mistake: Anita Dobson has revealed she initially thought her husband Brian May’s 2020 heart attack was down to him ‘overdoing it’ after too much exercise
However, her guitarist husband of 22 years was quick to emphasised that things were more serious than she thought, as she added: ‘He replied, “No, this is different”.’
Discussing Brian’s recovery, Anita admitted that her bedside manner needed work.
She added to Richard: ‘I was the most miserable nurse you’ve ever seen!’
Poorly: However, the EastEnders legend, 73, was later shocked to learn the real extent of the 75-year-old Queen rocker’s ill health, when he was hospitalised and found to be ‘very near death’
In May 2020, Brian opened up about his ordeal in which he was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack.
The musician was recovering from a ripped muscle and trapped nerve as a result of a gardening injury, when he suffered a heart attack amid his recovery.
Brian released an Instagram video in which he explained the shocking series of events that lead to his hospitalisation.
Oh no: Speaking to The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden about Brian’s heart attack, Anita recalled: ‘He said, “Babe, I think I’m having a heart attack”, I said “No, you’ve been exercising and you’ve overdone it”‘
Brian, who has now made a full recovery, began the clip by stating: ‘I told you I had a ripped muscle and that was the way I was diagnosed and we thought it was like a bizarre gardening accident… I kind of forgot anything to do with the bum people find amusing… but anyway, it turned out to be not really the case.’
He went on to reveal that after being diagnosed with a rip in his gluteus maximus, he was confused to find that a week later he was still in pain.
He explained: ‘I mean real agony. I wanted to jump at some points. I could not believe the pain. And people are saying “that’s not like a ripped muscle”, so eventually I had another MRI.’
Shocking: In May 2020, Brian opened up about his ordeal in which he was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack
Recovering: The Queen guitarist was recovering from a ripped muscle and trapped nerve as a result of a gardening injury, when he suffered a heart attack amid his recovery
The results showed that Brian had a compressed sciatic nerve, which he noted ‘felt like someone had been putting a screwdriver in my back the entire time. It was excruciating….’
However, in the middle of receiving treatment for his trapped nerve and ripped muscle, Brian suffered another medical emergency.
He explained: ‘So that’s one side of the story, and I’m a lot better now. I’m free of that terrible pain that actually destroys your mind…
‘But the rest of the story is a little more bizarre. I was shocked, I thought I was a healthy guy. Everyone says I’ve got a great blood pressure and I keep fit, I bike, good diet.
‘I had – in the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside – I had a small heart attack. I say small, it’s not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness. It’s that feeling in the arms and sweating.
‘And you kind of know, you’ve heard things and you think “this is a heart attack”. To cut a long story short, my wonderful doctor drove me to the hospital himself and I had an angiogram [an X-ray used to examine blood vessels.]’
Brian went on to reveal that doctors discovered he had three arteries congested and he was in danger of blocking the supply of blood to his heart.
Doctors suggested that he undergo open heart surgery, but Brian opted for the alternative which was to have three stents put inside his heart.
Hospitalised: The rocker released an Instagram video, in which he explained the shocking series of events that lead to his hospitalisation
Candid: Brian detailed his shock saga in a lengthy Instagram video