Country star 'haunted' by heart attack that forced him to miss Donegal gig

Irish country music star Michael English has opened up on the heart attack he suffered earlier this month while on his way to perform a gig in Cappoquin in Waterford and forced him to cancel a performance in the Abbey Hotel in Donegal Town.

English is one of the busiest country music performers on the Irish scene and performs all over the country and the UK. The 46-year-old lives in Kildare and was on his way to a gig in Waterford when the frightening incident unfolded. He was later forced to miss gigs in Waterford, Carlow and Donegal before returning to the stage in Mullingar last weekend.

Michael was a guest on the Joe Finnegan show on Shannonside radio earlier this week and in an honest interview he opened up about the ill-fated trip. 

He explained that he set off driving with his manager and friend Bryan Buckley from home in Kildare with the aim of being in Waterford early, around 4.30pm. Michael explained he hadn't felt the best that morning and about 20 minutes from Waterford while driving on the motorway, he asked Bryan to get behind the wheel for the rest of the journey.

The decision is one that could have saved his and the lives of other drivers. He explained: "I said to Bryan on the way that I just didn't feel 100%. In our business, sometimes you have a cold, you might have flu, you might have this, you might have a pain in your head, but the show must go on, and that's the way I always operate.

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"About 20 minutes from Waterford, we were on the motorway, and I asked Bryan would be mind taking over the wheel. I just didn't feel 100% at all. When Bryan took over the wheel, that's when events unfolded and something happened to me that I never thought would happen, I blacked out," he explained.

Michael said he had actually suffered "a slight heart attack" and that he was lucky to have Bryan with him at the time.

"It has haunted me since, you know if I was driving myself, thinking of other people travelling in other cars, you don't know what would have happened. The moral of the story is I had a slight heart attack and just blacked out. The next thing I remember waking up being admitted into Waterford General."

He thanked staff there and later in Dublin for the care and treatment he received.

Fans of the country star were unaware of the extent of Michael's health scare as a social media post went up later that day announcing that the Cappoquin performance was being postponed until April due to "illness." He later had to reschedule or miss a series of gigs, including in Donegal's Abbey Hotel and The Woodford Dolmen in Carlow.

Michael said his heart attack was initially described by doctors in Waterford as a "cardiac event" but he later found out that while he didn't have any blockages, the left side of his heart wasn't pumping as much as the right side, eventually leading to the "weakness" he says he felt on that morning and his subsequent heart attack in the car en route to Cappoquin. 

He continued: "There's an enzyme in my heart which was very much elevated. It should have been between 5 and 15, but mine was 41, so that attacked the left side of my heart."

He went on to say that this caused some slight damage to the outer wall of his heart but that it's "very much repairable."

Michael was "given the green light" by doctors to perform again and was back on stage in Mullingar for a three-night show just last weekend, a week and a few days on from his motorway ordeal. 

ABOVE: Michael back on stage nine days on from his heart attack on February 5

He said the medical advice was to carry on as before but that when he gets a day off to actually take that day off and look after himself. 

"I was the type of person that if I played six nights of the week, on the seventh day I'd be in the studio, or writing at the piano. While that's not strenuous, it's still music, it's still the mind working," Michael said. He said that no matter what type of work people are in, "mentally it's good to take a break."

He also stressed the importance for men in particular to get regular check-ups and mind their health.

"It's good to go and get yourself checked. I go and get my bloods done every year, though some people say you should get them done twice a year. I certainly will going forward. I would always have been the type to say to myself, 'sure I feel great, I'm grand, I'll put it off for another month'

"Go and have that check," he advised, "it's for peace of mind as well because you never know." He concluded his interview by thanking all the people, fans and fellow performers, who sent him well-wishes over the last couple of weeks.