TV PAUL'S HEART ATTACK
By Nicola Methven, Tv Editor
TV'S Paul O'Grady was seriously ill in hospital last night after suffering his second heart attack. Paul, 51, was at home with a friend when he was gripped by agonising chest pains.He realised what was happening because of his previous attack and asked the friend to dial 999. The Lily Savage star was then rushed to intensive care by ambulance. Last night he was described as "seriously ill but comfortable" after an operation to clear a blocked artery.
He has been moved into a cardiac unit where he will be monitored for 48 hours. Friends and family have been told he is expected to make a full recovery but will need lots of rest. Paul, whose Channel 4 chat show is currently off air, had his first heart attack in 2002. Afterwards the Scouse star told how he had thought he was going to die. He vowed to stop boozing and smoking up to 80 cigarettes a day.
He admitted previously going on benders that saw him downing 15 pints of beer and half a bottle of whisky in a single sitting. Since then he has switched to a healthier lifestyle, starting the day with a swim and taking long country walks near his home in Aldington, Kent. Earlier this year he said he felt fit as a fiddle - but admitted he had started smoking again after managing to kick the habit for two years.
Paul added: "I'm healthy now and feel fine. Before the heart attack, in the wild days, I looked like I'd just been dug up and hit with a shovel."
Last year Paul's manager and partner Brendan Murphy died of a brain tumour aged 49. Paul's family have been plagued with heart problems and both parents had cardiac conditions. He once joked: "When hearts were handed out they gave our family a job lot of pokey old ones."
Paul is not due back on air until September.
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He's a genuinely funny and nice guy, so here's hoping he recovers well and soon...
