Rick Stein has admitted he ‘won’t last much longer’ following his health scare.
The 77-year-old chef underwent open-heart surgery at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital last year after suffering shortness of breath.
Now, 18 months after the operation, despite describing his future in a matter-of-fact manner, he had said he feels “optimistic” and won’t sleep “thinking about how little life he has left.”
Rick’s aorta was not working properly and doctors advised him to go under the knife.
He has now been told The times: ‘After undergoing the operation and recovering, the improvement in my health has made me extremely optimistic.
Rick Stein has admitted he ‘won’t last much longer’ after his health scare last year
The 77-year-old chef underwent open-heart surgery at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital last year after suffering from shortness of breath for years
‘Even though at my age and with the normal reality of life, I won’t last much longer.
“I think as long as you’re healthy and generally optimistic and enjoying your life, you don’t tend to think too much about how little life you have left.”
He previously said of his surgery: ‘It was scary before I went into surgery’
“Afterwards you realize that if you had died, you wouldn’t have noticed because you were under anesthesia.”
‘Such an operation keeps you quiet and makes you think about who you are.
‘It’s time to rethink your life. You have gone through a very life-threatening experience.
“The surgeon says it’s no more dangerous than the appendix these days, but to have your heart taken out, repaired and put back in, I would personally say, that’s big!”
There was no substitute for a chef who loved the good life, including a good dose of butter, cream and wine in his cooking and travel shows.
Now, 18 months after the operation, despite describing his future in a matter-of-fact manner, he had said he feels “optimistic” and won’t lose sleep “thinking about how little life he has left”
Rick is married to wife Sarah who helped care for him after open heart surgery (seen together in 2013)
‘I had a valve in my heart that had to be replaced because it was not working properly. It kept getting worse. The cardiologist finally said, “You’re going to have to have the surgery.”
About the post-op pain, he added: “Your lungs get flattened a little bit during the process. They don’t want a build up of horrible things, so they make you cough. It must be like giving birth, it’s so painful.
Still, he hesitated to help himself. ‘I think it’s a British thing. I don’t like to make a fuss.
‘They give you self-induced morphine, you pump the drugs when the pain becomes unbearable. However, I stopped.
‘This Australian nurse came to me and said, ‘Why aren’t you using it?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, it’s morphine.’ She said, “Do you think you’re going to get addicted? Don’t be a fool! Just use it.’
Rick is married to wife Sarah and has three sons with first wife Jill: Edward, Jack and Charles.
Rick met Sarah, his Australian publicist at the time, when she was working on a book tour he was doing Down Under.
Rick is married to wife Sarah and has three sons with first wife Jill: Edward, Jack and Charles (seen together)
