Two months after suffering a near-fatal heart attack, “Biggest Loser” host Bob Harper is ready to talk about the incident.
E! News reported that on Tuesday, the fitness trainer opened up in an interview on "Today" and revealed he actually died during the heart attack Feb. 12.
“I was in full cardiac arrest,” Harper, 51, said. “My heart stopped. Not to be dramatic, but I was dead. I was on that ground dead.”
In February, Harper was in the gym with friends when he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing.
“I had what they call a ‘widow-maker,’” he said. “It was a 6 percent survival rate, and the fact that there were doctors in the gym when I had the heart attack saved my life.”
Related: 'Biggest Loser' host Bob Harper says he was hospitalized with heart attack
Harper revealed that he doesn’t remember a minute of that day. He was later told that a CrossFit coach was able to find two doctors who were able to perform CPR and use defibrillators on him to try to revive him before paramedics arrived.
Harper spent two days in a coma at the hospital before waking up.
"It was super scary for me because I woke up and I was so confused," he said. "I was like Dory from 'Finding Dory' because I had this short-term memory, so I was reliving the heart attack over and over again," he said. "I was, like, 'Wait, why am I here? What happened to me?' And 10 minutes later, I was asking the same thing and getting super emotional."
Harper, who is for the most part in good shape, said the heart attack has taught him a lot about his own health and body.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot about the fact that genetics does play a part in this. It is so important to know your health.”
“There were things going on inside of my body that I needed to be more aware of.” he said,
Harper urged people to be aware of their bodies and go to the doctor to get their internal health examined.
For his recovery, Harper is going to cardiac rehab three days a week and has been taking it easy and listening to his body. He said that even though he is on the right path, things have been very tough for him emotionally.
“It’s been hard,” he said. “I’m going through some depression. You really face your mortality, and I’m really understanding what’s important in life. I’m not sweating the small things anymore, and I’m not sweating the big things anymore. I care about my friends. I care about my family. I care about my dog. I’m going to appreciate every single day that I’m here.”
Harper said he will no longer enter any gym where there is no automated external defibrillator or employees who know CPR.
Watch the interview below.
About the Author
