Dog the Bounty Hunter has been diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary embolism just three months after losing his wife to cancer.
Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman revealed the reason behind his recent hospital stint in an exclusive clip of Monday’s episode of the Dr Oz Show, which was obtained by People.
The clip shows the 66-year-old TV star open up about his diagnosis and how his attitude to dying has completely changed since learning of his condition.
In the clip, he told Dr Oz:
I said, after Beth left, I’m not afraid to die… I take that back. I’m not afraid to [die], but I don’t want to.
A pulmonary embolism is a condition in which a blood clot travels to your lungs, blocking blood flow into them, which is potentially life-threatening.
Following his diagnosis, Duane says he was overcome with the fear at the thought of dying from the condition. The reality star was recently resting at home after suffering with chest pains.
He said:
Oh, I was afraid to die. Please let go of my heart, honey. Quit squeezing my heart.
Dr Mehmet Oz replied:
You’re a ticking time bomb.
You’re not going to be here with the heart the way it is right now. Fear of death is normal.
I’m surprised you don’t fear death when you’re chasing after convicts. But when you run away from doctor, that means you have to do your own doctoring.
The Bounty Hunter revealed how he initially believed the chest pains were a result of a ‘broken heart’ following the death of his wife, Beth Chapman.
According to People, the star is ‘weary of doctors and hospitals’, but says he’s not willing to go down without a fight now he’s on the road to recovery.
Dr Oz went to visit Chapman at his home in Denver, where he was given a tour of the star’s home, which included pictures and artwork of his late wife.
Beth Chapman was just 51 when she passed away in June, following a long battle with lung cancer.
She was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer in September 2017, before entering into remission. However, the disease spread to her lungs, prompting a stage 4 diagnosis before she was reduced into a medically induced coma.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.