People News

Rosie O'Donnell thought she was dying during heart attack

Oct 5, 2012, 14:01 GMT

Rosie O\'Donell

Rosie O'Donnell thought she was dying when she had a heart attack.

The 50-year-old TV presenter lost her own mother to breast cancer at the age of 39 and Rosie admitted she feared she too would leave her children without a mother when she suffered the health scare earlier this year.

She said: 'I thought about what my mother must have felt because she knew she was dying and leaving five children under 12, My two youngest are nine and 12 and I was 10 when my mother died and I hardly remember her. I remember thinking, 'This is too soon to be done.' '

However, Rosie admits the health scare was her own fault as she gorged on calorific foods and gained 20lbs when her wife Michelle Rounds was in hospital after being diagnosed with Desmoid tumours, rare growths which can damage tissues and organs.

She told People magazine: 'I tossed out all my junk food, especially anything with sugar. For once it wasn't difficult to live without sweets. Those foods almost killed me. It took a heart attack for me to learn to take care of myself.'