Brian May, former lead guitarist for Queen, revealed Monday that he was recently rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack.
May said in his Instagram video that he had three blocked arteries and was considered an emergency by doctors. May began the video talking about an injury to his buttocks he sustained while gardening earlier this month.
“I had an MRI and yes I did have a rip in my … my gluteus maximus,” said May. An MRI of his spine revealed that he also had a compressed sciatic nerve. (RELATED: Long Island Hosts Virtual Air Show For Memorial Day)
“I had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back,” May said in the video, explaining the pain that had continued after his initial visit to the hospital. “In the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside, I had a small heart attack.”
His doctor drove him to the hospital after he’d suffered chest pain for nearly 40 minutes. May elected to have three stents put in, rather than undergoing triple bypass coronary surgery.
May was surprised by the news, and said he always thought of himself as healthy. “I had no idea, I had great electrocardiograms and whatever, you know. Nothing could tell me that I was about to be in real, real trouble, because I could have died from that, from the blockages that were there,” said May in the video.
May thanked the medics for an “incredible operation.”