TV chef Rick Stein confessed he may not have long left to live as he opened up on his recent health battle.
In 2022, the 77-year-old had open heart surgery after struggling with breathlessness and was told he would die without the operation. 18 months on from the life-saving surgery, Rick is now determined to live life to the full with what time he has left.
Despite starting to think about death, Rick said he feels “optimistic” and won’t lose sleep “pondering how little life he’s got left”. The Padstow-based restaurateur told The Times: “Having had the operation and recovered, the improvement in my health has left me tremendously optimistic.
READ MORE: Saturday Kitchen guests floored as star claims presenter Matt Tebbutt needs cooking lessons
READ MORE: Want more showbiz? Daily Star has just the thing for you!
“Even though at my age and with the normal realities of life I’m not going to last that much longer, I think as long as you’ve got your health and you’re optimistic generally and enjoying your life, you don’t tend to ponder too much about how little life you’ve got left.”
(Image: Jon Love)
Speaking about the surgery in a previous interview, the TV star confessed: “It was scary before I went into the operation. Afterwards you realise if you had died you wouldn’t have noticed, because you were under the anaesthetic.”
He continued: “An operation like that stops you in your tracks and makes you think about who you are. It’s time to review your life. You’ve been through a very life-threatening experience.”
(Image: BBC/Shine TV)
Whilst the doctor tried to reassure him about the procedure, Rick new the dangers it carried. He explained: “The surgeon says it’s no more dangerous than the appendix these days, but to have your heart taken out, repaired and put back in, personally I’d say that’s big!”
Rick had no choice but to have the operation as a valve in his heart had to be replaced. He compared the pain after the operation to what he believes child birth would feel like.
(Image: Getty Images)
He said: “Your lungs are sort of flattened during the process. They don’t want a build-up of horrid stuff, so they make you cough. It must be like childbirth, it’s so painful.”
Rick was given morphine to help reduce his pain level, but he stopped using it. He recalled: “This Aussie nurse came up to me and said, ‘How come you’re not using it?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, it’s morphine.’ She said, ‘Do you think you’re gonna get addicted? Don’t be such a fool! Just use it.”
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
