Breandan O’Connor, from Haywards Heath, had a triple heart bypass in July this year.
The 63-year-old first noticed a problem after experiencing unusual pain in his chest while walking up a hill.
“At the time, I wasn’t worried,” he said. “I thought I was just unfit. I’d got out of the habit of going to the gym during the lockdowns. But with my years of nursing, I knew that pain could be the sign of something else, so I thought I better get it checked out.”
After visiting his GP and being referred for tests, doctors discovered that three of the arteries in his heart were dangerously narrowed.
“I was angry and surprised. I don’t drink or smoke,” said Breandan, worked in nursing for 25 years before becoming an actor.
“It felt like I’d been dealt a bad hand. But I quickly came to the view that there was no point wasting energy on something I couldn’t change.”
After completing his recovery, Breandan’s mind turned towards how best to thank the doctors and nurses who had helped him. But rather than send a card or box of chocolates, he decided to draw on his talents as a performer.
In 2015, Breandan decided to pursue his lifelong interest in performing by training as an actor.
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“Singing, dancing and performing are either in you or they aren’t,” he said.
“If you stifle parts of your personality, I think it makes you unhappy so I thought it was time to pursue that dream.”
Since then, Breandan has combined working as a nursing temp with roles in West End shows, a film that was released in Cannes and an upcoming Disney+ TV series.
“I would have loved to pursue an acting career earlier, but I’ve realised that my nursing journey was the best training you could have,” he said.
“No drama school can teach you what you learn about life working in a hospital at one o’clock in the morning.”
To raise funds for the British Heart Foundation and the Sussex Heart Charity, Breandan has made a music video of himself singing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. The song was first made famous by Judy Garland when she sang it in the film Meet Me In St Louis. It has since been covered hundreds of times by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Christina Aguilera and Sam Smith.
“I thought it would be a really nice way to say thank you,” said Breandan.
“I choose this song because it’s a very optimistic and about moving forwards and looking to the future.”
In the UK, there are more than seven million people living with a heart and circulatory disease. The BHF funds research into heart conditions, such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia as well as their risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
People can watch the video online on YouTube.
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