Danniella Westbrook given heart attack warning after Strep A hospital scare

The actor urged anyone with a ‘flu bug and tight chest’ to call an ambulance

Danniella Westbrook has been warned by doctors that she would have had a heart attack if she hadn’t been rushed to the hospital on Thursday night (8 December).

The EastEnders star was told that she was only “hours away from cardiac arrest” after she told her followers she had been experiencing blackouts and seizures.

She shared a clip from her hospital bed, showing her in a hospital gown, and wrote: “Sepsis, Strep A, and constant temperature of 39.8C.”

A few hours later, Westbrook, 49, posted another update on her Instagram Stories and thanked NHS staff at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, London.

She wrote: “Huge thank you to Whipps Cross and the NHS, who have managed to get me stabilised. They informed me if I’d of [sic] left it till the morning I would of [sic] had a heart attack, the pressure on my chest was so bad.”

The actor published another post on Instagram with a selfie of herself in a fluffy pink robe, and said in the caption: “Whips Cross just saved my life and I am forever grateful.

“If you have this flu bug and tight chest, ring an ambulance. I was hours away from a cardiac arrest, my chest was so tight. Now I need complete bed rest for a few days. #blessed.”

Her health scare comes amid several outbreaks of Strep A in UK schools that have left hospital A&E departments “overflowing”.

The bacterial infection has resulted in the deaths of 15 children and health authorities have launched an investigation in the cases.

The bacteria that causes Strep A can cause a number of different infections, including scarlet fever and the skin infection, impetigo.

Most people who come into contact with Strep A bacteria remain symptom-free and do not become unwell. But those with a weaker immune system, open sores or wounds, or have some viral infections such as cold or flu can become more vulnerable to Strep A.