The top entertainer passed out in his car on his way to a concert in County Waterford last week.
Shortly before that, English had been driving the car, but after stopping at a garage to refuel, he asked his manager to take him behind the wheel, as he was fortunately not feeling well.
“I was shocked. I never thought something like this would happen to me at 46 years old,” Michael said.
“I was lucky that I had a passenger in the car and I was lucky that my manager, Brian Buckley, took over driving. The fact that I passed out could have been catastrophic.”
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Recalling the events of last Thursday, English, who left for a concert in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, says he wasn’t in the best of shape that day.
“When I left the house, it wasn’t 100 degrees, but I felt a little weak or tired inside me, and I took three days off, which was unusual for me,” Michael said.
“We had stopped on our journey to buy some diesel, so at that point I asked Brian if he would mind driving us. We were about 20 minutes from Waterford and when we resumed our journey, I passed out in the passenger seat.
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“Brian didn’t know what was going on, so I can only imagine how scary it was for him. But he got me to the hospital as soon as possible because he knew it was a serious problem.”
After receiving treatment at Waterford University Hospital and the Hermitage Clinic in Dublin, English was cleared to return to work and is currently hosting weekend shows in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
“Thankfully I didn’t need surgery. I’m on medication and will have more heart tests once my heart has had a chance to recover, but I feel great right now and it’s like nothing happened. I’m 100 percent,” Michael said.
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“But it was a shock to the system and a shock to everyone. I’ve never smoked and I drink in moderation. I’m healthy and I’m certainly not overweight. I’m a good weight for my height.”
“I don’t abuse myself at all. I like to have a pint of Guinness with friends, but I wouldn’t call myself a drinker. Doing 300 shows a year means I don’t drink that night, not even every other night.”
“But I’m known in this industry for being a hard worker. I’m often referred to as ‘the busiest actor in the country,’ so I probably have to deal with that.”
“I’ve said before that if I had eight days a week, I’d work eight days, because I love this job. I eat, sleep, drink this business. I love everything about this business.
“But one thing I’ve learned from this is that I need to find a balance. I’m never going to slack off, that’s never going to happen, and I’m going to go full steam ahead again from now on.”
“But what I’m going to do is, on my day off or of course once a week, I’m going to have a Michael day where I don’t play music and do things like swimming and walking.
“I’m an early riser so I know I’m not getting enough sleep. No matter what time I get home, even if it’s 6am, I wake up at 9:30 or 10am so I have to try to get more sleep.
“In the past, if anyone asked me, I would have thought I was very healthy. This shows that you should take care of yourself. Your body and mind are one, and you should take care of your health and get regular check-ups. Men are especially bad at it. But it could save your life.”