BBC star Mark Millar has showed off his surgical scar after having a triple heart by-pass as he gave a health update on Instagram on Sunday.
The DIY SOS star, 55, who underwent open heart surgery, revealed he is now feeling ‘amazing’ as he opened up about his gruelling recovery.
At the end of last year, Mark survived a heart attack while cold water swimming off Clevedon’s coast, in north Somerset and was rushed to Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI).
Now speaking out in a number of social media videos, Mark said he has been ‘struggling mentally’ but is recovering well.
He said: ‘I’ve been a bit quiet about my post op recovery but I’m doing well and healing well but I’ve struggled a bit mentally because I feel vulnerable.
‘I’ve been open from here to the top of my stomach so I get a bit worried about someone or me knocking it. I’m just about to have my first swim and I am very excited.’
BBC star Mark Millar has showed off his surgical star after having a triple heart by-pass as he gave a health update on Instagram on Sunday
The DIY SOS star, 55, who underwent open heart surgery, revealed he is now feeling ‘amazing’ as he opened up about his gruelling recovery (pictured his surgery scar)
At the end of last year, Mark survived a heart attack while cold water swimming off Clevedon’s coast, in north Somerset and was rushed to Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI)
Following the swim, Mark showed off his scar and said he feels ‘alive’ as he returned to light exercise.
He continued: ‘That was amazing, that was the first time I’ve been in the water since November, I’m seven weeks post op, I swam 10 lengths and I’m so high and this is amazing I am alive.’
However, Mark was forced to address that he had ‘jumped the gun’ and returned to swimming to early post-op and warned others not to do the same.
The TV star explained: ‘Yesterday I put a post up about me going for a swim seven weeks post op and I shouldn’t have done it.
‘I was slightly ticked off early from someone in the cardio unit but I should have waited until 12 weeks until the sternum is completely healed so I don’t damage or contract any infection.
‘So please don’t swim before 12 weeks, I’m sorry for doing that. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now for the next few weeks exercise, I guess more walking.’
Mark previously gave a health update three weeks post-op and said he had been out walking each day after previously being ‘exhausted’ and ‘tender’.
The TV builder said: ‘I feel amazing, I’m walking I’m averaging seven thousand steps a day, I feel fantastic I have my appetite back.
Now speaking out in a number of social media videos, Mark said he has been ‘struggling mentally’ but is recovering well
Following the swim, Mark showed off his scar and said he feels ‘alive’ as he returned to light exercise, he said: ‘That was amazing, I swam 10 lengths and I’m so high and I am alive’
‘I was exhausted for about two weeks and a bit tender but I really am making my way back and thank you to the surgeons and doctors that helped me’.
Mark had a heart attack while open water swimming and previously said as soon as the pain started it felt ‘like a lifetime’ for him to swim back to the shore with help from his friends.
He told the BBC: ‘It felt like someone was tightening a belt around me. If it was not for my friends and my £15 float, I am not sure if I would be here today.
‘I was having red flags, everything was wrong’, he said. ‘The water felt like treacle, I felt absolutely dreadful.’
Mark has worked as a carpenter all over the UK, Europe and the US.
He is from Northern Ireland and was raised in Belfast in the midst of the Troubles.
Growing up, he had aspirations to train as a chef, but instead took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter.
After four years, he swapped Ireland for London before settling in Bristol.
It was here where he set up his own building firm, which has achieved huge success and boasts a number of celebrity clients.
However, Mark was forced to address that he had ‘jumped the gun’ and returned to swimming to early post-op and warned others not to do the same
The TV star explained: ‘Yesterday I put a post up about me going for a swim seven weeks post op and I shouldn’t have done it. I should have waited until 12 weeks until the sternum is completely healed so I don’t damage or contract any infection’
Mark starred on DIY SOS alongside Nick Knowles and his team until 2018 and was the Project Manager; pictured 2015 L-R Mark Millar, plasterer Chris Frediani, presenter Nick Knowles, electrician Billy Byrne and builder Julian Perryman
He left the programme in 2018 in order to present Channel 5’s primetime show Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms with Mark Millar Mark is also the presenter on BBC One’s How Safe Is Your House; pictured 2023
Mark’s building work has taken him as far as New York.
Mark could have been on DIY SOS from the very beginning alongside Nick Knowles and his team but in 1999 when he was approached to present on the first series in front of the camera, he declined due to the amount of private client work he had booked.
Six years on, he was asked again if he would like to become Project Manager for the popular series, this time he jumped at the chance.
When it comes to his role on DIY SOS, Mark was the one who had to work out how to fit weeks of work into just nine days.
He left the programme in 2018 in order to present Channel 5’s primetime show Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms with Mark Millar
Mark is also the presenter on BBC One’s How Safe Is Your House.
