After being rushed to Andheri’s Bellevue hospital, where he was treated for a lethal cardiac arrest on December 14, Shreyas Talpade is now at home, resting and recuperating. He admits his revival was nothing short of a miracle. The 48-year-old actor is grateful to God, his doctors, well-wishers and most importantly his wife Deepti, who showed immense presence of mind and took timely measures to snatch her husband from the jaws of death. The ordeal, however, was more than a wake-up call for the actor. It was a terrible reminder of how we often take our life and time for granted with minimal attention to preventive care. Excerpts…

For the past two and a half years I have been working nonstop and travelling extensively for my films, Pushpa (lends his voice for the main character in Hindi) or shows. However, for the last few months, I was feeling extremely fatigued. It was slightly unusual but since I was working nonstop, I thought I was just a little exhausted which is normal. I loved what I was doing so I kept going. Of course, I got myself checked. I got an ECG, 2D Echo, sonography and blood tests done. My cholesterol was high, and I was taking medication for that. I’ve had a family history of heart ailments, which is why I was taking precautions.

Elaborating on what happened on the day of his acute cardiac arrest, the Housefull 2 actor shares, “We were shooting in Mumbai at the SRPF grounds close to Jogeshwari for Ahmed Khan’s Welcome To The Jungle. We were doing army training sequences like swinging on a rope, falling into the water and everything was going smoothly.”

Shreyas adds, “Suddenly, after the last shot, I felt breathless, and my left hand started paining. I could barely walk to my vanity van and change my clothes. I thought it was a muscle pull since we were shooting action sequences. You don’t think of the worst-case scenario, right? I had never experienced this kind of fatigue.”

He shares, “As soon as I got into the car, I felt I should head straight to the hospital, but thought I should go home first. My wife, Deepti, saw me in that state and within 10 minutes, we were on our way to the hospital. We were almost there and could see the hospital gate, but the entry was barricaded, and we had to take a U-turn. The very next moment my face went numb, and I passed out. That was a cardiac arrest. My heart had stopped beating for those few minutes. Deepti couldn’t get out of the car from her side of the door as we were stuck in traffic, so she climbed over me and got to the other side to call for help. A few people came to our rescue and rushed me inside. The doctors did CPR, electrical shock, that’s how they revived me.”

The actor, whose two main arteries were blocked (one 100% and the other 99), has had a stent placed through angioplasty. He says, “Once I regained my senses, the doctors told me that I smiled at them and conveyed sorry to my wife for putting her through this ordeal. I was kept under observation for five days. Now, I am taking one day at a time and resting it out. The doctors said post six weeks I can get back to work. My producers told me to take it easy, too. I just want to relax now, be with family for now, spend time with my daughter, watch some films and read books. When something like this happens, your family suffers the most. I can now imagine what Mr Bachchan and his family may have gone through when he suffered a near-fatal injury on the sets of Coolie (1982).

"I was never hospitalized before in my life, not even for a fracture so I didn’t see this coming. Don’t take your health for granted. Times are so uncertain that you must give extreme importance to your health. If that falls apart, nothing else matters. Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai. An experience like this changes your perspective towards life. I started doing theatre at 16, became a professional actor at 20. For the past 28 years, I have just been focusing on my career. We take our families for granted. We think we have time. As a nation we are not high on preventive care. I have seen my parents and their generation ignoring their health, too. We work hard for our survival but is it worth it? If you are not alive what’s the point of it anyway?"

"I want to tell this to everyone. Somewhere, our body always gives us these signals, please listen to them. Do not ignore them. Communicate with your doctor better. Some people often skip doctor visits thinking, ‘Yeh koi test karne bolenge’. But you never know how helpful those tests could be. While there has been no evidence per se, I’ve heard post covid, many cases involving healthy young people have encountered heart issues. I was down with covid in 2020. Just get yourself checked, why waste time? I don’t smoke at all, drink scarcely once a month perhaps, follow healthy diet and exercise but don’t let this overlook the warning signs that your body gives you."

Having survived this near-death experience, Shreyas feels immense gratitude for having got a second chance at life. “Clinically, I was dead. It was a massive cardiac arrest. A wake-up call would be an understatement. This is my second chance at life! I cannot tell you how thankful I am to everyone who played a role in saving my life. And, of course, my superwoman wife, who did everything she could in her capacity to save me. She is the reason we are talking today. It was overwhelming to receive this sort of love and care. These people gave me a second life and it’s a debt I can never repay, Ahmed Khan and his wife, Akki bhai, my friends and family have been visiting me at home," he tells us.