Jeremy Clarkson, the 64-year-old former Top Gear host, has revealed that he underwent an urgent heart operation following a sudden deterioration in his health. Clarkson shared that he was “maybe” days away from death before doctors performed a two-hour surgery to save his life.
The health scare began after Clarkson started to feel unwell while on holiday on a small island in the Indian Ocean. After a swim, he experienced difficulty climbing stairs and noticed worsening symptoms upon his return to Britain, including clamminess, chest tightness, and pins and needles in his left arm.
Motivated by the recent death of Alex Salmond, who passed away from a heart attack, Clarkson sought medical advice. He was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where doctors ruled out a heart attack but discovered that two of the three arteries feeding blood to his heart were severely blocked.
Clarkson described the procedure in his Sunday Times column, explaining that one artery was completely blocked, while another was close to becoming fully obstructed. Doctors fitted him with a stent to restore blood flow to his heart. The operation took about two hours, with Clarkson commenting that the experience was not particularly painful, just “odd.”
Reflecting on the experience, Clarkson remarked, “Crikey, that was close,” and mentioned he might reconsider his diet, even jokingly wondering “what water tastes like” and if celery could ever be made interesting.
Clarkson’s health scare comes shortly after he appeared on Instagram with what looked like a surgical plaster on his wrist, raising concern among his fans.