The Wanted’s Max George Wrote His Will from Hospital Bed Before Pacemaker Operation: ‘I Thought I Was Going to Die’

The Wanted’s Max George has revealed that he wrote his will on his phone while in hospital for what he previously described as “heart problems”.

The 36-year-old musician, who recently reformed the boy band duo The Wanted 2.0 with colleague Siva Kaneswaran, said in late December that he had a pacemaker implanted after surgery. Now he has detailed his health scare in an interview on January 11 Sun.

“That first night when I wrote my will, I thought I was going to die,” he revealed.

As George recalls, he woke up freezing with blue hands on December 11, after “not feeling well for a few days” after the tour. “I couldn’t put my finger on it,” he said Sun. “I was quite lethargic and stuff, struggling to get out of bed. But I didn’t think it was anything serious.”

Max George at the 2022 Pride of Britain Awards.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

The Wanted’s Max George says he had a pacemaker implanted after discovering heart problem: ‘Best Christmas present ever’

“Luckily I went to stay with my mum and I woke up and I remember looking at my hands and they were blue and my hands were gray and I was cold,” he added. “I struggled to even stand up in bed.”

After George’s mother saw him, she decided it was time to call the doctor. After the examination, George called another friend and doctor who advised him to seek additional care.

“At that point I had a feeling of panic, but I was also completely exhausted,” he said. “I couldn’t move my arms, and the worst feeling was that I felt like my throat was closing. It felt like someone had their arms around my neck. Thank God I stayed at my mom’s house — she saved my life.”

The singer was then informed by doctors that there was something “wrong with the lower part” of his heart and told that he would need a pacemaker. “For some reason the rhythm is out of whack and the signal doesn’t seem to be getting from the upper chamber of your heart to the lower part, the part that pumps blood around your body,” he recalled being told. “I was in complete shock.”

“It was really scary, all kinds of things going on in your head, and it’s certainly not where I thought I’d be at 36,” he added. “I was up all night, feeling a tightness in my throat, I was really struggling to move and I was breathing really deeply, slowly. There was nothing they could do to stop it. I could have lived for a few weeks, maybe a few months, I didn’t know.”

After two days in the hospital, George’s heart rate dropped to 26 beats per minute, compared to a normal heart rate of 60 to 100. “The worst day,” he said, was Dec. 13, when his “heart rate was at the same time my blood pressure dropped.”

Max George 2023.

Dave Bennett/Getty

The Wanted’s Max George reveals he will spend Christmas in hospital after doctors discover ‘problems with my heart’

Then, on December 15, he was taken for a CT scan, and three days later, he underwent a pacemaker operation. The operation lasted about three hours, he recalled, and the operation was “sad”, because he was conscious but heavily sedated. His partner Maisie Smith was there when he became aware of his surroundings, George recalled.

“At that time I also had a regular heartbeat. My pulse started to quicken. I remember feeling my feet tingling, because I think obviously the blood started pumping properly,” he said Sun.

“I was like, ‘Shit, I feel alive again,’ like it’s a really nice feeling. It was so hard to be away from Maisie, but she climbed onto the bed, apparently on the other side of my chest from my surgery, and put her head down on top of me. We just cuddled for a few hours while I talked about football and we treated it like normal. I felt butterflies next to her again,” he said.

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George first announced the pacemaker implant via Instagram on December 21, calling it “the best Christmas present” in a message to fans. He had previously revealed days earlier that he had been hospitalized after feeling “really bad”.

As he encouraged followers to “say hello to my little friend” after the operation, The Wanted singer revealed he had the operation “underneath my very special tattoo” – inked which read “04/08/1998”, an apparent reference to his late bandmate’s birthday from Tom Parker’s band.

“I’m sure he’s being taken care of 🤍,” George wrote at the time. “I have a few more tests to do due to swollen lymph nodes in my lungs, but that will be easy work! 💪🏻 Time to rest and then get back to living life full of life ❤️. Thank you for your support. It meant a hell of a lot to yourself and your family.”

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Source: HIS Education