HEALTHJamie Dornan 'Lucky' to Be 'Alive' After He Was Hospitalized With 'Heart Attack Symptoms' From Poisonous Caterpillars, Friend Reveals
Jamie Dornan and his good friend Gordon Smart weren’t expecting to both feel signs of a heart attack after a relaxing day of golf in the south of Portugal.
During a recent episode of BBC's "The Good the Bad and the Unexpected" podcast, Smart revealed his and Dornan's unusual health woes while chatting about their trip to a golfing resort in the European country last year.
Jamie Dornan and his friend Gordon Smart experienced heart attack symptoms after encountering poisonous caterpillars on a golf course in Portugal.
Detailing his initial thoughts from when he started to feel the warning signs of a heart attack, Smart admitted he at first brushed it off, thinking he just had too much to drink the night before.
It had only been one day into their trip when Smart noticed a "tingling in his left hand and tickling in his left arm," leaving him convinced he was experiencing "the sign of the start of a heart attack."
The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' actor's left side started to feel numb shortly after his friend sought medical attention for his own strange symptoms.
"Now, I’m a fairly healthy guy but once you start thinking, you’re having a heart attack, you’re pretty sure that you’re convincing yourself that you are having one," the Scottish broadcaster explained.
Smart decided to play it safe and sought medical care at a nearby hospital, though he was later discharged after being evaluated by doctors and nurses.
The two men brushed up against hairy processionary caterpillars just one day into their trip.
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Upon returning to the hotel, however, Smart was perplexed to see Dornan hooked up to medical equipment.
"Jamie said, 'Dear me. Gordon, about 20 minutes after you left, my left arm went numb, my left leg went numb, my right leg went numb, and I found myself in the back of an ambulance,'" Smart dished of the Fifty Shades of Grey actor.
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Gordon Smart said he and Jamie Dornan are 'very lucky' to be 'alive.'
"Anyway, as he left the hospital, the paramedics asked them for a selfie, which is really what you want when you’re being wheeled out of a hospital room," he quipped.
The two men spent the entire rest of their week unsure what caused their apparent start of heart attacks before Smart’s doctor called and informed him the duo's symptoms might have been caused by deadly caterpillars.
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"And it turns out that there are caterpillars on golf courses in the south of Portugal that have been killing people’s dogs and giving men in their 40s heart attacks," he shockingly revealed.
"It turns out we’d brushed up against hairy processionary caterpillars and have been very lucky to come out of that one alive," Smart continued, concluding: "So there’s my story; the good news is it wasn’t a caffeine overdose, it wasn’t a hangover — it was a poisonous, toxic caterpillar."
