“Below Deck” star Fraser Olender revealed that he was hospitalized in London after suffering from a “coronary artery vasospasm,” which later led to a heart attack.
Fraser Olender Reveals The News In An Instagram Post
On Friday, Dec. 5, Olender shared numerous photos on Instagram along with a long message explaining what happened.
“This is not chic but very important for me to share ⚠️,” he captioned the post. “A few weeks ago I was rushed to hospital due to severe chest pains and difficulties breathing. Following this, I spent a week in London hospitals seeing specialists to identify the cause and possible damage of the incident.”
“To keep it simple – I had vape poisoning, (an E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)) and I have never experienced fear or pain like it,” he continued. “Whatever was in my vape caused me to have a coronary artery vasospasm. Medically, that means the arteries supplying blood to my heart suddenly clamped down. That spasm reduced blood flow enough to cause an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), better known as a heart attack – not because of a blockage, but because my heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen during the spasm.”
Fraser Olender Is Looking To Help Warn Others Of The Risks
In an effort to help advise others about the risks of vaping, Olender decided to share his story.
“I’m grateful to still be recovering now, and I’m sharing this because I never realised something like this could happen. If this experience can help even one person rethink vaping, it’s worth telling,” Olender added on Instagram. “I haven’t touched a vape since this happened and never will. The pain I endured for 24 hours was inexplicable, 2 rounds of morphine didn’t touch the sides and eventually had to be given the strongest pain relief legal to administer in ER – and that only brought my pain from a 10 to a 7.”
“I could have died for the sake of something so ridiculously stupid, so please do yourselves a favour and give it up too – cold turkey. We do not know enough about these horrific things but I can tell you one thing; that was NOT cute, not even for the plot 👎🏼,” he concluded. “Love you all, be safe, put your health first and thank you for all of your well wishes 🫶🏼”
Fans Show Support For Fraser Olender
Getty“Thank you so much for sharing your story! Sending lots of love and light ❤️,” one fan commented under his Instagram post.
“This is so scary so glad you are okay . Thank you for sharing with us and being vulnerable. Take care of yourself,” another fan wrote.
“❤️🩹 & Hopefully this helps someone else stop vaping as well,” someone said.
I always thought using these long term would eventually cause harm. The original thought was a tool to help you quit smoking not forever use!
Totally scary… I smoked for too many years and can now say I’m smoke free for 16 years. When I was quitting is when the vape option appeared. I did try it but what was the point, one bad habit for another. Thankfully, something clicked in my pea-brain, this isn’t the answer. A friend of mine was vaping on an airplane and passed out and they had to emergency land the flight. Smoking has been proven to be bad for our health so why in the world would an unsubstantiated chemical substitute be better??? Life is too short, please don’t rush the inevitable.