On the two-year anniversary of the heart attack he suffered while working out in a gym, Bob Harper is as grateful as ever to have survived.
On Tuesday, “The Biggest Loser” host and fitness trainer commemorated the health scare that nearly killed him with a thoughtful post on Instagram.
“Two years ago today I had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest,” he wrote. “I am so thankful to be here. My message to you is to appreciate where you are in your life. No matter how hard it can get, you have the power to change anything that you want as long as you never give up. LIFE IS GOOD is my mantra today. Feel free to say it with me... LIFE IS GOOD!! #heartattacksurvivor #IRONBORN #bodyguardrealness #pb&j”
Harper, 53, has been and continues to be vocal about his heart attack.
About two months after the attack, he spoke with Savannah Guthrie on TODAY.
“My heart stopped. Not to be dramatic, but I was dead. I was on that ground dead,” he said. “I had what they call a ‘widow-maker.’ It was a 6 percent survival rate, and the fact that there were doctors in the gym when I had the heart attack saved my life.”
A little more than one year after the heart attack, Harper posted a photo of himself in a coma in the days after he was rushed to the hospital, noting, “To say I am grateful for my life is a MAJOR understatement.”
Harper has definitely come a long way and learned he has a high risk of heart attack because he has a high level of lipoprotein (a), which can cause blood clots and plaque buildup in the arteries.
In an essay he penned for TODAY.com, Harper opened up about the “day that changed my life forever” and revealed that he has mellowed out.
“Well, let me tell you, it’s all different now,” he wrote. “My life is about appreciation and gratitude. It is about balance.”
Harper now knows that it's important to take things in stride. “It’s about not sweating the big things and definitely not sweating the small things,” he wrote. “I know how short life can be. I know that it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye.”