Max George made difficult decision in hospital after thinking he was ‘going to die’
Max George has revealed the difficult decision he made in hospital after believing he was “going to die”.
Last month, The Wanted’s lead singer, 36, was diagnosed with an atrioventricular heart block, a condition where the heart beats more slowly or with an abnormal rhythm.
Days later he was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery, and is now recovering after having a pacemaker fitted, although he has admitted he is living with a “strange sensation”.
In a new interview, the musician said he made preparations for death, writing his will on the first night in hospital.
“That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” he told The Sun.
“If I could go from being absolutely on top of the world to being told ‘the bottom part of your heart isn’t working’, I kept thinking in my head, ‘Well, what if the top half stops working overnight?’”
Thoughts of his girlfriend, EastEnders star Maisie Smith, crossed his mind as he made the difficult decision to write the document.
“When you get told that you really realise what your responsibilities are,” he said.
“I’ve got a partner, Maisie, I’ve got a family. I’ve got two little nephews and all of that stuff really comes to the front of it all.”
The star admitted he was “30 years younger” than the other elderly patients on the heart ward.
Sharing the symptoms that had prompted the emergency medical action, George said that he had fortunately spent the night at his mother Babs’s home in Manchester when he fell unwell.
“I hadn’t been feeling myself for a few days, I started feeling a bit rough,” he said.
“I couldn’t put my finger on it. I was quite lethargic and stuff, struggling to get out of bed. But I didn’t think it was anything serious.”
The musician had just come back from a month of touring and said, “Luckily I’d gone around to my mum’s to stay and I woke up and I remember looking at my hands and they were blue, and my arms were a grey colour and I was freezing cold. I struggled to even sit up in bed.”
His mother made the decision to get help, driving him to the GP. After he was sent home, Babs remained undeterred and called a doctor friend for a second opinion, who advised they go to A&E.
“I couldn’t move my arms and the worst feeling was I felt like my throat was closing up,” he said.
“It felt like someone had their hands around my neck. Thank God I stayed at Mum’s house – she saved my life.”
