Actor Andre Gower, best known for playing Sean in the 1987 horror classic The Monster Squad, is on the mend after suffering a surprise and massive heart attack.
The 48-year-old actor took to his Facebook to post a video update for fans, revealing his right coronary artery was 100% blocked and his live was saved by a matter of minutes.
His family and friends also set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical costs, with over $46K of the $250K goal donated in just the first day alone.
‘Yesterday, I apparently went and had a heart attack. Apparently, according to the info, it was a pretty decent one,’ Gower began.
Heart attack: Actor Andre Gower, best known for playing Sean in the 1987 horror classic The Monster Squad, is on the mend after suffering a surprise and massive heart attack
He revealed he was playing tennis with his ‘good buddy’ named Mike when he, ‘started not feeling really well, and, long story short, after a few minutes of not getting better, my buddy Mike scooped me up in his car.’
The actor said that Mike first took him to urgent care and, ‘they immediately saw what was happening, and threw me in an ambulance, and I jammed over to the big ER.’
He said he went straight to the catheterization laboratory, ‘and had two lines put in my femoral artery and vein, they went up in through the vessels into my heart.’
Gower added how serious the heart attack was, stating, ‘My right coronary artery ended up being 100 per cent blocked with a giant blood clot. Apparently, according to the people that worked on me and the excellent cath lab team, we got here with about 10 minutes to spare.’
He concluded by stating he was still in the ICU and they have, ‘just removed my two main lines,’ which means his heart is, ‘working adequately enough to take the pacemaker out and the lines.’
Urgent care: The actor said that Mike first took him to urgent care and, ‘they immediately saw what was happening, and threw me in an ambulance, and I jammed over to the big ER’
The heart attack came as quite the surprises to not only Gower, but also his family and friends, who describe him in the GoFundMe page as, ‘a healthy and extremely active 48 years young.’
The actor had just finished a 30-day Instagram campaign called #ActiveWithAndre, where, ‘he encouraged folks of all abilities all over the globe to do just one thing within their comfort zones to take care of themselves, and share their experiences as part of a self-care initiative.’
The GoFundMe update said the actor initially thought he was just dehydrated or his blood sugar was low, but it turned out to be a 100% blockage from a blood clot.
They added there were none of the traditional signs of a heart attack like ‘chest pain’ or ‘grabbing of the arm’ or ‘dramatic collapse.’
His friend Mike rushed him to urgent care after he couldn’t find a pulse, and a number of miraculous happenings allowed Mike to get Andre help he needed in just the nick of time.
Nick of time: His friend Mike rushed him to urgent care after he couldn’t find a pulse, and a number of miraculous happenings allowed Mike to get Andre help he needed in just the nick of time
‘They said in another 5-10 minutes, there would have been zero chance of survival. Just a bit of traffic, or another patient in the cath lab, or the cath lab being just half a mile further – would have added up to death. He was at that place – I’ve seen it a hundred times when I was a paramedic,’ Mike said in a statement.
A day after the heart attack they discovered a 50% blockage in his left anterior descending artery (LAD), known as the ‘Widowmaker’ artery, and a decision is being made to install a permanent pacemaker.
Gower started working as an actor at just five years old, appearing on The Young and the Restless and Days of Our LIves.
He appeared in a number of guest-starring TV spots in The A-Team, St. Elsewhere, Knight Rider, Night Court and more before landing the role of Sean in The Monster Squad.
Surgery: A day after the heart attack they discovered a 50% blockage in his left anterior descending artery (LAD), known as the ‘Widowmaker’ artery, and a decision is being made to install a permanent pacemaker