Shakin' Stevens on surviving near-fatal heart attack

I went to sleep and I didn't wake up

Michael Barratt, aka Shakin' Stevens, joined Lorraine to talk for the first time about the heart attack that almost killed him in 2010, and how he's back and ready for his latest assault on the charts.

Shaky's world came to an abrupt halt in July 2010 when in the middle of the night he suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest that changed his life forever. He was saved by his partner who, with the help of a 999 operator, performed CPR on him until professional help arrived.

"She broke my rib," Shaky told Lorraine.

The musician was rushed to hospital and subsequent tests revealed he was suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HOCM, a thickening of the heart muscle. Left untreated, HOCM can affect the normal flow of blood through the heart and cause irregularities in the heartbeat, which can lead to a heart attack, damage to the muscle, or cardiac arrest. Shaky believed that stress played a factor in his heart attack although doctors suggested the condition was mostly genetic. Shaky's brother died in 2006 from a similar condition.

Since the heart attack, Shaky has had to make some major changes in his life, including cutting out alcohol.

But now he's back and fighting fit again, Shaky is preparing to go on tour next year! His 12th studio album, Echoes of our Times, was also released earlier this month!