Jeremy Clarkson has spoken about having a stent fitted as he said: “Was I days from death? Maybe.”
The former Top Gear presenter said he has written a lot about the “wearisome effects of growing old” and found a “sudden deterioration” in his health after returning from holiday in the Indian Ocean.
His symptoms included “clammy” hands and a “tightness” in his chest, both of which he ignored, until he had pins and needles in his left arm. It was hearing the news about Scottish first minister Alex Salmond’s fatal heart attack that got him to see a doctor, he wrote in his latest column for The Sunday Times.
At John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, a heart attack was ruled out after an ECG, blood tests and X rays. He wrote: “It seems that of the arteries feeding my heart with nourishing blood, one was completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way.”
Clarkson was taken to the operating theatre and then doctors fitted a stent, which according to the NHS is a short and wire mesh tube that helps keep your artery open. Stents can save lives. Clarkson said he was left thinking: “Crikey, that was close.”
Candidly over the years, the star has admitted to having enjoyed a life of eating red meat, drinking beer, smoking and opting to drive fast cars instead of walking to the shops.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host has openly discussed his health woes he has faced.
Hearing Loss
The Grand Tour star has been battling with hearing loss for 12 years and complained people did not treat him with understanding when he struggles to hear them.
Clarkson complained: “Why the spittle-infused rage when I cup my hand to my ear and say, ‘I’m sorry, what was that you said?'”
In June this year he revealed he was rushed to hospital after completely losing his hearing in one ear.
He explained: “There was no pop; no trauma. One minute it was operating normally, and then there was nothing. I put my finger in my right ear and was enveloped instantly in a blanket of absolute silence.”
But now the TV star has sought medial help become the proud owner of a “snazzy” new pair of hearing aids.
Dementia fears
Clarkson decided to seek medical help for his hearing loss after being warned that struggling on in the way he has could increase his risk of dementia.
He revealed: “I was told after my most recent medical that hearing loss will double the chance of me catching dementia. Maybe it’s already happening. That would explain why I can never find my spectacles.”
The car-lover revealed he has been putting an extra strain on his brain, as without hearing aids it has to “use a huge amount of computing power trying to fill in the bits of speech it hasn’t been able to hear.”
Smoking addiction
The Clarkson’s Farm star was a keen smoker and admitted to having a 40-a-day habit for 43 years of his life.
He said of cigarettes: “Aside from the very first, there hasn’t been a single one that I didn’t enjoy.”
But a health scare he suffered in 2017 prompted Clarkson to quit smoking.
The journalist told The Guardian he was rushed to hospital in Spain while on holiday and was diagnosed with pneumonia.
He has since revealed: “For most of my adult life, stern-faced doctors warned me that if I didn’t give up smoking, I would suffer from an agonising and premature death.
“But then, as you may have heard, I got pneumonia while I was on holiday, and I was told, by everyone, that I had to stop.”
Clarkson told how a medical check-up revealed his habit had drastically affected his lungs.
He wrote in his 2018 autobiography: “I had to run up some stairs, and afterwards the doctor was horrified. I had 96 per cent of the lung capacity you would expect in someone my age.”
With the help of nicotine gum he managed to quit cigarettes.
High blood pressure
For someone with such a devotion to thrill-seeking speed and angry rants, it might not be a surprise that Clarkson’s blood pressure was found to be higher than it should be.
The broadcaster revealed in summer of 2023 that he has now been advised to quit nicotine gum as well.
He said: “This week a doctor said it’s causing a worrying rise in my blood pressure and that if I don’t pack it in soon, I will suffer from an agonising and premature death.”
Ageing joints
Clarkson has confessed his body is not as reliable as it used to be.
He wrote in The Sun in 2021: “My knees give me no confidence when I’m coming down a flight of stairs.
“My back locks solid if I attempt to walk up a hill.”
And his weak knees mean he has to be careful working on his farm.
He admitted in May 2023: “There’s a lot of jumping involved in farming… But like almost every other farmer in Britain these days, I’m in my early sixties, and so are my knees.
“Which means that while I can get on top of things, I can’t jump off them any more for fear that my legs will bend the wrong way and that’ll be that for six months.”
Read more: Jeremy Clarkson
Watch: Jeremy Clarkson aims to raise awareness of suicide rates among farmers