The Irish comedian tells The Mirror's Claire O’Boyle how a slight thumping in his chest led to heart surgery
Comedian Jason Byrne is no stranger to doctors. After an eye op at 11, he had his appendix out at 20 and within a year had punctured a lung. He even dislocated his arm surfing in Australia.
So when he felt a pain in his chest in September last year, the Irish comic had no hesitation looking for answers.
Within weeks he’d been fitted with five stents in his arteries after doctors discovered three were blocked.
“The pain I had was tiny, but I’m not a man who is afraid of the doctor,” he says. “I could have lived with it for months, but I’m very glad I didn’t – it could have been lethal.”
Jason, 50, was running on Portmarnock beach in Co Dublin, when he felt what he describes as a “thumping” pain in his chest.
“It was just to the right-hand side of my heart,” recalls the father of two.
“It wasn’t like a stitch or other pains you get when you’re running. It was a very definite thumping pressure and I knew I had to stop.”
The next day, the comedian saw his GP. And though he was hoping he’d be given the all-clear and allowed back home, he was sent straight to A&E. A string of tests revealed he had three blocked arteries, caused by high cholesterol, something Jason believes was hereditary.
About one in 250 people have familial hypercholesterolaemia, an inherited condition that means their cholesterol levels are higher than normal from birth. Despite it putting them at risk of early heart disease, most don’t even know they have it.
“When I heard three of my arteries were blocked I thought, ‘Holy Jaysus’.
“But the doctor told me it was OK, that I wasn’t dying. I had a build-up of cholesterol that had been going on for years.
“Apparently, I could have eaten fish heads and rice all my life and it still would have happened.”
In fact, until that point, Jason had lived a healthy lifestyle by anyone’s standards. A regular cyclist, he went for 10km runs at least twice a week and wasn’t much of a drinker. He’d cadged the odd cigarette on a night out, but not for years.
At just 49, heart disease was not on his radar – but in hindsight he accepts he’d had a heads-up 10 years earlier.
“Back then I was going to Australia for work and I had to have a health check before I left,” he recalls. “The doctor asked me, ‘OK, Jason, is there any history of heart conditions in the family?’ My dad had a pacemaker and seven stents and my mum had been given a triple heart bypass.
“So he told me we needed to check things out, but I had to leave for Australia and didn’t have time. He said ‘When you come back we’ll do tests, because if we catch problems early, we can stop them early.’
“I never got round to it.”
Fast forward a decade and Jason was on the operating table having five stents – tiny tubes that widen blocked arteries – inserted in an angioplasty procedure by the very same doctor.
The stand-up comedian was awake as they were inserted through his wrist. “It was a scary experience,” he says. “But there are no nerve endings in your heart so you just feel a pressure.”
After a day in hospital to recover, Jason was back home with partner Tracy Power.
“I’d advise anyone after a procedure like that to have someone with you when you get home,” he says. “My doctor said, ‘We might not have cracked you open, but you did have heart surgery.’ I was quite weak.”
As part of his recovery, Jason attended cardio rehab for six weeks, with physical training and regular heart monitoring and therapy to help him adjust psychologically.
“They say it takes a year to stop thinking about an experience like that,” says Jason. “I’m not quite at a year yet, but I don’t really think about it all the time now and I’m definitely feeling positive.”
With his eye on the future, Jason kicks off a brand-new UK tour, Unblocked, in September after a run at this month’s Edinburgh Festival.
“I’m really excited about getting back on stage,” he says. “My arteries are unblocked, my career is unblocked with Covid restrictions finally gone and I can’t wait. Everyone needs a laugh after the last couple of years.”
As well as Unblocked, in Edinburgh Jason is putting on The Paddy Lama– Shed Talks in memory of his late dad, Paddy.
“My father died at 80 in February 2020, just before Covid really kicked in,” says Jason. “He died two days after a stroke and I feel very honoured that I was there to hold his hand when he passed away.
“To see life leaving someone’s body is amazing, but terrifying. It makes you want to make the best of every day, to eat ice cream and take your socks off and run on the grass.
“My experience last year was challenging, but it meant that friends, family and fans went running to their doctors to get checked out – and there was something wrong with some of them, and they’re receiving treatment.
“So for anyone with the slightest niggle or inkling, getting checked out can only be a good thing.
“The earlier you get sorted, the less hassle you’ll have and the more time you’ll have to enjoy your life.”
- Jason Byrne is at the Edinburgh Festival from tomorrow. His UK tour, Unblocked, runs from September 15. For tickets, visit jasonbyrne.ie
