Back in February, fans were upset to hear that Kevin Smith had suffered a heart attack. Writing on Instagram from his hospital bed in Los Angeles, the actor wrote that he had faced his "greatest fear" when he was rushed to a medical facility where doctors found one of his arteries was 100 per cent blocked.
"I threw up a little but it didn’t seem to help. Then I started sweating buckets and my chest felt heavy. Turns out I had a massive heart attack," he wrote. "The Doctor who saved my life at the #glendale hospital told me I had 100% blockage of my LAD artery (also known as “the Widow-Maker” because when it goes, you’re a goner). If I hadn’t canceled the second show to go to the hospital, the Doc said I would’ve died tonight."
Revealing that his father had lost his life to a heart attack, the 48-year-old also spoke of the "sense of calm" he was filled with in hospital as he believed that he was about to die, writing: "As I stared into the infinite, I realized I was relatively content. Yes, I’d miss life as it moved on without me - and I was bummed we weren’t gonna get to make #jayandsilentbobrebootbefore I shuffled loose the mortal coil. But generally speaking, I was okay with the end, if this was gonna be it. I’ve gotten to do so many cool things and I’ve had so many adventures - how could I be shitty about finally paying the tab. But the good folks at the Glendale hospital had other plans and the expertise to mend me."
Thankfully, the Clerks director survived. However, after his near-death experience, he was told to change his lifestyle and eating habits by doctors, or suffer the consequences.
Now, six months on and Smith has taken to social media once again - but this time, rather than posting from a hospital bed, he is celebrating, having lost 51 pounds! Uploading pictures to Instagram of his weight transformation, the comedian looked like a new man as he revealed that Weight Watchers had helped him reach a healthier weight.
Writing on Instagram, he put: "This @weightwatchers Ambassador is thrilled to announce that I’VE LOST 51 POUNDS! Six months ago from right now, I was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack I’d had the night before. When I went to my Doctor a week later, she told me “The best thing you can do for yourself now is to lose 50 pounds.” Half a year later, I can report that I followed Doctor’s orders: I started at 256 and now I weigh 205. This is the lightest I’ve been since high school! My hope now is I can slowly lose another 10 with #weightwatchers and get down to my birth weight of 195! But for now, I’m ecstatic to have reached this chunky milestone!"
Equating his weight loss to "a total lifestyle change of eating solely plant-based foods", Smith gave shout-outs to his friends who helped him along the way, as well as his fans whose encouragement inspired him.
"Never underestimate the power of positive feedback: you folks telling me I looked better or healthier helped me stick with it," the 48-year-old wrote. "An encouraging word can really make a difference in someone’s life and your compliments kept me going! And just look where I went!"
Congratulations, Kevin! You smashed it!
