Arnold Schwarzenegger is opening up about one of his surgeries that he said nearly killed him.
In a new YouTube video, the 76-year-old action icon recalled undergoing his third open-heart surgery, which lead to unexpected problems that had him "freaking out."
Schwarzenegger had the valve replacement surgery before filming 2019's "Terminator: Dark Fate."
In the video, the former California governor said he woke up in the hospital and was told by doctors that the procedure had caused unexpected internal bleeding.
"I woke up and all of a sudden the doctors were in front of me saying, 'I'm so sorry but it was unlike what we planned,'" Schwarzenegger said. "[They said] we made a mistake and poked through the heart wall and had to open me up very quickly and to save [my] life. I was really freaking out."
Schwarzenegger faced a difficult recovery, which he revealed in footage showing him walking down a hospital hallway first with a walker, then holding the railing.
"The bottom line is, you cannot roll the clock back," he said. "It was a disaster. I was in the middle of a disaster. So now how do I get out of it? You have to shift gears. You collect yourself, shift gears and say, 'OK, what I need to do now is I got to get out of this hospital.'"
Schwarzenegger described progressing from walking 10 steps.
"I looked like an idiot waddling around the hallway, but the bottom line was the doctor said you have to exercise your lungs because if you get pneumonia you can die," he said. "We did it, because I had a positive attitude … [Three months later] I started shooting 'Terminator 6.'"
Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger talked about his health and desire to live a long life in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"I still work out every day, I ride my bike every day, and I make movies — show business is another part of my life," he said. "I add in my life, I never subtract. I don't need money. I get money because you have to have a certain value and the agents negotiate.
"But I have a great time doing it. I love everything that I do. There's no retiring. I'm still on this side of the grass, so I'm happy. My plan is to live forever — and so far, so good!"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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