It has been nearly two months since Bob Harper suffered a near-fatal heart attack, and now he's ready to open up about the terrifying ordeal.
The Biggest Loser trainer, 51, gave Savannah Guthrie an interview on Today Tuesday morning and revealed he actually died during his attack. "I was in full cardiac arrest," Harper said. "My heart stopped. Not to be dramatic, but I was dead. I was on that ground dead."
The morning of Feb. 12, 2017, Harper and friends went to the gym. After finishing his normal exercises, Harper suddenly dropped to the ground and stopped breathing. "I had what they call a 'widow-maker,'" he said. "It was a six percent survival rate, and the fact that there were doctors in the gym when I had the heart attack saved my life."
But he doesn't remember one bit of that day. Fortunately, the crossfit coach found two doctors who were able to give Harper CPR and administer a defibrillator twice. Paramedics arrived and used the device one more time before arriving at the hospital.
"It was super scary for me because I woke up and I was so confused," he said. "I was like Dory from Finding Nemo because I had this short-term memory, so I was reliving the heart attack over and over again.
"I was like, 'Wait, why am I here? What happened to me?' And 10 minutes later I was asking the same thing and getting super emotional."
Famous for his fit physical shape, Harper admitted having a heart attack and going into cardiac arrest was something he never expected. "It was hugely shocking for me," Harper confessed. "I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned a lot about the fact that genetics does play a part in this. It is so important to know your health."
He added, "There were things going on inside of my body that I needed to be more aware of."
Harper admitted to suffering from dizzy spells before the heart attack, which in hindsight he said he should have taken more seriously. Physically, Harper said he feels "good" now.
"I've been doing my cardiac rehab Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It's been hugely beneficial to me. They've taken such good care of me, so I'm feeling good," he said. "I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm doing exactly what the doctors tell me to do."
Emotionally, however, Harper still suffers.
"It's been hard," he said. "I'm going through some depression. You really face your mortality, and I'm really understanding what's important in life. I'm not sweating the small things anymore, and I'm not sweating the big things anymore. I care about my friends. I care about my family. I care about my dog. I'm going to appreciate every single day that I'm here."