Brian May explains he had a heart attack while recovering from gardening accident

Earlier this month, the Queen guitarist revealed on Instagram that he had ripped his "Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening."

Since then, he's shared a couple of updates, one of which shows him sitting on a park bench with crutches.

Yesterday (24 May), May shared a seven-and-a-half-minute video on Instagram explaining that he suffered a heart attack while recovering from his accident, and adds that he has since had three stents attached to clear his arteries.

In the clip, he explains that he thought he was "a healthy guy", adding, "But I turned out to have three arteries that were congested and in danger of blocking the supply of blood to my heart."

He also explains that he returned to the hospital for a second MRI scan to investigate the pain following his gardening accident. May says, "But this time I had one of the lower spine and, sure enough, what did we discover but I had a compressed sciatic nerve, quite severely compressed, and that's why I had the feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back the whole time. It was excruciating."

When discussing his heart attack, May explains, "It's not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness, and that feeling in the arms and sweating."

May also says he was given the choice between the stents or having open heart surgery, and goes on to encourage those over 60 years old to get an angiogram "whether they have any problems or not."

Before finishing his video, May reveals he "was actually very near death [but] I didn't die. I came out and I would have been full of beans if it hadn't been for the leg."

View this post on Instagram

Hmm ... Sheer Heart Attack eh ? Well, I think I always worried a little bit about that album title. I wondered if it might upset some people who had actually had heart attacks. I’m actually quite relieved now that I’m in that club - and I don’t find it upsetting at all ! Take. care folks. And ... why did those discs in my spine get so squished? Well I think 50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar might have something to do with it ! But it probably WAS all worth it ! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 24, 2020 at 7:42pm PDT