Brian May is currently recovering from a heart attack. The Queen guitarist announced in a video posted on Instagram on Sunday that he had suffered a heart attack and offered additional details on the episode. The news comes after May announced earlier this month that he had torn the muscles in his butt to shreds while gardening. In the video, May said that it turned out that the tear in his butt was not the sole cause of his pain.
“Eventually I had another MRI, but this time I had one of the lower spine, and sure enough… I had a compressed sciatic nerve — quite severely compressed — and that’s why I had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back,” May explained, adding that the pain was excruciating.
The guitarist added that he’s feeling much better now and is largely free from the pain he felt earlier. May also said that usually, he’s quite a healthy guy, but that he had a “small heart attack” as he was working through the treatment for his back pain.
In the clip, May clarified that the heart attack hadn’t done any harm.
“It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness and that feeling in the arms and sweating. Long story short, my wonderful doctor drove me to the hospital himself,” May explained.
Once he arrived at the hospital, May had an angiogram that revealed that he had three arteries that were congested and could ultimately stop the flow of blood to his heart. After that, May said he was given the choice between open-heart surgery for a triple bypass or having three stents put in. May ultimately decided to go with the stents.
May said that the process wasn’t easy, but only because of how much pain he had been in the entire time. Now, in the aftermath of his treatment, the guitarist said that he feels entirely healthy. He said that the operation was incredible, and he expressed gratitude to those who had treated him.
The Queen guitarist also said that he could have died from the blockages in his arteries if he hadn’t had the angiogram. He said that, thankfully, he didn’t die, and he was no longer on pain killers. May said he was grateful to be able to return to his regular life following the health scares.
“I’m good, I’m here, and I’m ready to rock,” he concluded.
