Max George of The Wanted revealed that he underwent a second heart surgery after complications with his pacemaker.
On Feb. 16, the 36-year-old musician — who recently revamped the boy band as duo The Wanted 2.0 with fellow member Gray Kaneswaran — shared the health update with The Sun.
“I was trying to get back to good health but was still having a flickering sensation for weeks after I had my pacemaker fitted and it was gradually getting worse and worse,” he told the outlet. “When my heart rate went up, it was causing a shock in my heart which was making me jump all the time. My chest was shaking.”
George explained that after several visits to the hospital, doctors discovered the cause of his symptoms and that he would require another procedure. However, they warned that the procedure could cause a dangerous bleed on his heart.
“The night before, I was really nervous, I didn’t sleep much. I was worried it could go wrong again and felt anxious that it could bleed out,” he recalled.
George had the surgery on Jan. 15; he was conscious but heavily sedated throughout the two-hour procedure. The surgery was successful. However, the singer was back in the hospital two days later with enlarged lymph nodes, which required a biopsy and would put his career at risk.
“The doctor did warn me there is a small chance that I could lose my voice. That was pretty worrying, but I decided I needed to take the risk,” he told the outlet. “The biopsy was pretty gnarly, it’s a camera with prongs on the end that goes down your throat. It was painful. The recovery was tough, I had chest pain and was coughing up blood for five days.”
Max George undergoes second heart surgery.
Max George/Instagram
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George has since been given the “all-clear” and is focused on his recovery. On Feb. 17, he shared the news on Instagram alongside photos of himself in the hospital.
“It’s been a setback, but it’s just one of those things,” he wrote. “It can take a few weeks / months for the inflammation of my heart to subside (myocarditis) but I’m sure I’ll be back on top form in no time!”
“Thanks everyone for all your lovely messages and support through what’s been a pretty rough time,” he added. “Means a lot.”
In an interview last month, George opened up about the health scare that first landed him in the hospital. “That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” he told The Sun. He recalled waking up freezing with blue hands on Dec. 11, after he “hadn’t been feeling myself for a few days” following a tour.
“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 color and I was freezing cold,” he told the outlet. “I struggled to even sit up in bed.”
“I couldn’t move my arms and the worst feeling was I felt like my throat was closing up,” he added. It felt like someone had their hands around my neck. Thank God I stayed at Mum’s house — she saved my life.”
Max George undergoes second heart surgery.
Max George/Instagram
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After seeking medical attention, George was informed by doctors that something was “not right with the bottom part” of his heart and told he’d need a pacemaker.
“It was really scary, all sorts is going on in your head, and certainly not a place I thought I’d be in at 36,” he explained. “I was awake all night, feeling a closing in my throat, I was really struggling to move and had really deep, slow breaths. There was nothing that they could do to stop that. I could have lived maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months, but it could have been a few hours. We didn’t know.”
After two days in the hospital, George’s heart rate dropped to 26 beats per minute, in comparison to a standard heart rate of 60 to 100. The “worst day,” he said, came on Dec. 13, when his “heart rate and my blood pressure dropped at the same time.”
The musician was taken for a CT scan on Dec. 15, and had his pacemaker surgery three days later, calling the procedure “grim.”
At the time, George shared a selfie on Instagram, holding a thumbs up from his hospital bed. He later called his pacemaker “the best Christmas present I could have ever wished for.”
“Time to rest and then tackle life full on once again❤️,” he wrote. “Thank you for all your support. It’s meant a hell of a lot to myself and my family.”
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