Metal Anarchy

Queen’s Brian May has revealed that he recently suffered a “small heart attack.” The guitarist said the incident left him “very near death,” but he underwent an “incredible operation” that left him feeling “as if nothing happened.”

May previously injured his buttocks while gardening and thought the pain was related to that. He then got an MRI and found out he had a compressed sciatic nerve from “50 years of running around with a guitar strap over [his] left shoulder holding a heavy guitar.” May went on to say that the nerve was “quite severely compressed and that’s why [he] had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in [his] back.” He continued:

“In the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside, I had a small heart attack. I say small — it’s not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness. It’s that feeling in the arms and sweating. And you kind of know — you’ve heard things and you think, ‘This is a heart attack.’ To cut a long story short, my wonderful doctor drove me to the hospital himself and I had an angiogram.”

He added:

“I actually turned out to have three arteries which were congested and in danger of blocking the supply of blood to my heart.”

He also had the following to say about the operation and his current health:

“I couldn’t feel that they’ve been in here, I couldn’t feel anything… I walked out with a heart that’s very strong now. So I think I’m in good shape for some time to come.”

“I’m incredibly grateful that I know have a life to lead again. I was actually very near death because of this, but the pain that I had was from something completely different, it’s funny how things work…. I’m good, I’m here and I’m ready to rock.”

[via Blabbermouth]