Kevin Smith recovering from heart attack
and in short, frantic order it became clear to the paramedics what was really happening.
His mother has two stents in her heart, his father died of a heart attack, but because he was only 47 years old with a recent history of healthy living, the notion of heart attack never crossed his mind, he said, until the hospital staff made him know that this was what was happening.
His artery was 100 per cent blocked. A stent (an insert in the artery to ensure it doesn’t close again) was inserted immediately and he woke up to the effects of blood flow the likes of which his body hadn’t enjoyed for years.
He was feeling incredibly well. He said he was barred from driving for a while, he would have to take a careful regimen of medications, and he had to convalesce for a week.
The only work he missed was that second live show Sunday night and an appointment to direct an episode of The Goldbergs.
The outpouring of support that flooded in by mail, social media and flowers delivered to his hospital room gave his heart quite the opposite of an attack.
“It was like reading your eulogy. I saw what the reaction would be like if I died, and it was very sweet,” he said, repeatedly thanking family, friends and fans for their shows of support.
“I was always afraid of being terrified of dying,” he said.
“I’ve seen people die. I like life. Life worked out for me and I don’t ever want to let it go. But in that moment, I was like... that’ll do it. ‘That’ll do, pig, that’ll do.’ I felt like I was (cartoon piglet) Babe. I was ready, and I was OK with it.”
He repeated that he felt very well and he would be back to normal activities as soon as he possibly could, with the added bonus of mortal gratitude.
Northern FanCon organizer Norm Coyne confirmed that no dates on Smith’s schedule of public appearances had been cancelled even for the first week of March, let alone the 70-or-so days until the Prince George show. That’s more than two months for local fans to come to terms with their own feelings over such a near miss by a beloved artist.