A BBC star has revealed that he was just hours away from a potentially fatal heart attack after undergoing a surgical procedure. Gary Rycroft, the legal expert on BBC Morning Live, shared his harrowing experience with hosts Rick Edwards and Helen Skelton, explaining how he initially dismissed his symptoms as signs of aging.
Ignoring the Warning Signs
Rycroft admitted that he had been experiencing chest pains but attributed them to getting older. He decided to take on the Couch to 5k challenge and felt better than ever in many respects. He stated, "I think it's typical of dare I say men of my age, where we ignore things. We think we're getting old. I didn't wear glasses till I was 50. My hearing really is not as good as it used to be."
He continued, "So when I started to get chest pains walking my dog, I live on top of a hill, so I'm up and down the hill two or three times a day walking to work, walking my dog, and I'd say every fortnight or so I'd get a chest pain and it would pass really quickly. So I didn't really think anything of it. I put it to the back of my mind as people tend to do."
The Diagnostic Journey
Rycroft only sought medical advice because he was doing the Couch to 5k and thought he should get a check-up. He said, "I actually did feel a lot better and I lost quite a bit of weight. So, I was feeling really good, but I'd started this diagnostic journey with my GP. So, I'd had an ECG. They checked out the electrics of the heart. That was fine. And then in January, I went to have a cardiac CT scan, which is kind of an X-ray of the heart to check out the structure and check out the plumbing."
When the results came back a couple of weeks later, the news was devastating. "It was really quite bad news which floored me, which was actually the main artery to your heart is pretty much blocked. And of course, you start googling and it was called the left anterior descending artery. Not very helpfully on the internet, it's often referred to as the widow maker. So, suddenly I was in quite a dark place to be honest, and it was quite stressful for my partner Jenny and the kids."
The Life-Saving Procedure
Rycroft underwent a straightforward operation to insert a stent. He explained, "The next thing to do is called an invasive angiogram, where they put a little tube up your wrist, and they fit what's called a stent. So, I had that procedure. It was all done in about 40 minutes. It was pretty remarkable. And you know, thank goodness for medical science. When I came round from that, the cardiologist was kind of, you know, you're a very lucky person, because you were probably hours or days from having a massive potentially fatal heart attack. So that was quite a lot to take in."
Expert Advice
Doctor Xand van Tulleken commented on the procedure, stating, "If you've had this procedure I mean they are safe. They are very common and Gary's risk you know it is traumatic having these things. You get much closer to death than you would want to. But if you can manage your blood pressure, your cholesterol, quit smoking, manage your risk factors, your GP will help you with all of that afterwards, you know Gary's life expectancy is pretty much the same as it was before the procedure, which is fantastic. That's the reason to go and have it done."
A Message to Others
Rycroft urged others not to wait as long as he did. He said, "This is a silent killer for people in their 50s and 60s and people will have lost people. And I wanted to talk about this because I wanted to say to people, don't wait as long as I did. I had a very close shave. Don't wait as long as I did. And if you're living with someone who's concerned, encourage them to have that conversation. If something's not quite right, it's well worth checking it out."
