Jasper Carrott is "very lucky" to be alive after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass.
The 73-year-old comedian thought he was "immortal" until a cardiologist recommended he go under the knife for life-saving surgery after discovering a "serious" issue, but the ‘Carrott’s Commercial Breakdown’ star had put his chest pains, which he had suffered from for two years, down to indigestion.
He said: "I was worried myself there. I thought I was immortal, they’d have to kill me with a stick, suddenly this came up and it was a bit of a shock.
"One of the points I’m trying to get through to people, I’d had it for a couple of years – I [just thought I] was getting old and it was indigestion. You put these things off.
"I was on holiday, I had something my wife was worried about, she phoned the doc, I went to see them, saw the cardiologist and he just went, ‘This is serious.’ The heart was good but the plumbing was blocked.
"It’s like having your appendix out – it’s that routine. I’m a very lucky boy."
Jasper expects to live for another 20 years after undergoing the operation, and didn’t think twice when he was told the op would extend his lifespan.
He said: "I don’t feel that fantastically much better than I was. I was pretty good beforehand. But without a doubt it’s given me an extra 20 years of life or something.
"The cardiologist, he checked everything out and he said, you have this operation done you will live for years and years so I didn’t go for a second opinion."
Jasper – whose daughter is ‘The Office’ star Lucy Davis – was forced to cancel his sell-out UK tour to undergo the surgery, but he was left "very emotional" by the positive reaction he received from his fans.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, he added: "I was absolutely humbled. There was over 700,000 internet well-wishers.
"All the shows I had to cancel, about 90 per cent of the audience just re-booked. It really was very emotional."
Jasper Carrott: I thought I was immortal
