Martin Sheen, the actor best known for his appearances in the dramas Grace and Frankie and The West Wing, is the father of Charlie Sheen from Two and a Half Men.
But the actor first experienced a significant physical ailment while working on the psychological war drama Apocalypse Now, which would follow him for the next almost 40 years.
The 1979 movie included Sheen in addition to well-known actors Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Frederic Forrest. The story of Captain Benjamin L. Willard, played by Sheen, who travels by river from South Vietnam to Cambodia during the Vietnam War is told in the movie, which is partly based on the short story Heart of Darkness.
Sheen had a heart attack during filming even though he was in his mid-30s at the time. As a result, the entire production was ruined because he fell and almost died before getting to a hospital.
Due to the film’s remote locales, a local physician helped Sheen maintain his stability until he could be removed from the bush.
Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the movie, had an epileptic seizure one night after persuading himself that he was to blame for the disaster, adding to Sheen’s precarious health situation.
According to the NHS, a heart attack is a critical medical emergency that happens when the blood flow to the heart is unexpectedly interrupted.
The most common cause of heart attacks in the UK is coronary heart disease (CHD), a condition in which cholesterol plaque builds up and narrows the major blood vessels supplying the heart.
One of these plaques will burst prior to a heart attack, resulting in the formation of a blood clot at the site of the rupture. The clot may impede blood flow to the heart, which could result in a heart attack.
Hypoxia, substance abuse, and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are among other less frequent causes of a heart attack (a sudden drop in oxygen levels in the body).
Everybody experiences a heart attack differently. However, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) draws attention to a number of them, including:
Chest discomfort or pain that develops suddenly and lasts
extends to your stomach, left or right arm, neck, jaw, back, or back. While some people experience sharp pain or tightness, others only experience discomfort. It could feel heavy or like indigestion with a stinging discomfort.
feeling ill, hot, lightheaded, or out of breath.
Dialing 911 and requesting an ambulance are essential actions to take because a heart attack is a medical emergency. The NHS advises chewing and ingestion of one aspirin pill while awaiting the arrival of an ambulance. This encourages blood thinning and boosts blood flow which is good for the heart.
Depending on the severity of the attack, a heart attack requires a different course of treatment once a patient is admitted to the hospital. The following are the two main strategies:
Three weeks after overcoming the heart attack, Sheen returned to the set. Sheen’s heart issues lingered in 2015, 36 years later.
Sheen’s 75-year-old son Emilio Estevez posted on Facebook that his father had quadruple bypass surgery.
The statement reads, “The decision to operate on his heart was proactive, not reactive.”
“My father took on this challenge with incredible courage, endurance, and humility with my mother Janet and the rest of our family by his side, and under the supervision of his outstanding team of cardiologists, doctors, and nurses.”
He has been discharged from the intensive care unit and, unsurprisingly, is doing remarkably well. It is anticipated that he will be fully recovered by the time he starts production on Grace and Frankie season three on Netflix early the next year.
According to the British Heart Foundation, coronary bypass surgery lessens chest pain. In the procedure, doctors circumvent (get around) a narrowed coronary artery by using blood veins from your leg, arm, or chest.
A higher quality of life is one of the advantages of the surgery, especially as it aims to relieve patients’ angina symptoms.
The majority of patients need to stay in the hospital for six to eight days after a coronary artery bypass graft.
According to the NHS, the majority of patients should be able to walk after three days, sit in a chair after one day, and climb stairs after five or six days.
Like any sort of surgery, a coronary artery bypass transplant carries the risk of complications. These are frequently manageable and modest, like an unsteady heartbeat or a wound infection. However, there is a chance of experiencing severe negative consequences like a heart attack or stroke.
The fact that a coronary artery bypass graft does not treat coronary heart disease must be emphasized. A person’s transplanted arteries will eventually harden and constrict if they do not also adopt lifestyle modifications, such as eating a balanced diet and exercising frequently.
