Taiwan TV host Blackie Chen urged his fans to get enough sleep after suffering a heart attack on Sept 15, which he believes may have been linked to chronic sleep deprivation.
The 49-year-old made his first public appearance on Sept 17 after undergoing emergency surgery on Sept 15. He had experienced a tightness in his chest while watching a friendly basketball match and was warded for observation in the intensive care unit after the operation.
After being transferred to the general ward, Chen detailed his ordeal in a social media post.
“I’ve truly had a brush with death this time,” he wrote in Chinese. “That day at the stadium, I suddenly felt a heavy, tight pressure in my chest, as if a large stone was pressing down on it. I couldn’t catch my breath and my back was in excruciating pain.”
Chen thought it was mere exhaustion and went to Chung Shan Hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) department for a check-up.
“The atmosphere in the A&E department changed completely the moment the nursing staff saw my ECG results,” he wrote. “The staff began urgently contacting various departments, as they said my ECG results indicated a very high level of risk and that I needed to be transferred immediately to a major hospital for treatment.”
He was taken by ambulance directly to National Taiwan University Hospital, where he underwent the angioplasty and stent procedure.
“The entire process - from stepping off the ambulance to the end of the operation - took about 90 minutes,” he wrote.
The attending doctor Wang Tzung-dau told him he had suffered acute myocardial infarction, commonly known as heart attack, with one artery completely blocked.
Chen also delved into the possible causes leading to his current condition.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink and I don’t attend social functions,” he wrote. “But I do have one bad habit I simply cannot shake - not getting enough sleep. I go to bed late and wake up early every day, and I’ve been doing this for a very long time.”
Chen, who founded Taiwanese men’s professional basketball league P. League+ in 2020 and serves as its deputy commissioner, said running the league had sometimes left him sleeping only three or four hours a night.
“I thought I was made of steel and could cope,” adding that he would sometimes reply to messages at 2am before waking up at 6am to get his children ready for school.
He is married to singer Christine Fan, 50, and they have 11-year-old twin sons.
Wang told Chen that his lack of sleep is likely the primary cause of his heart attack, as it can raise blood pressure, cause inflammation in the blood vessels and disrupt the autonomic nervous system.
“Your heart is still being overworked even if you don’t smoke or drink,” Chen wrote.
He also shared several photos of himself in hospital, including one of himself with Wang and another picture of himself with visitors, including Fan and their friend, singer Wang Leehom.
Urging his fans not to dismiss fatigue and to recognise the symptoms of a heart attack, Chen wrote: “You can push yourself at work and play in a match later, but there’s no extra time when it comes to your health.” – The Straits Times/ANN
