Days of Our Lives’ Dan Feuerriegel Reveals He’s Had a Pacemaker Since Age 17
Dan Feuerriegel explained how he got a pacemaker at age 17 because his heart was beating at a really low rate.
Dan Feuerriegel revels in playing the ruthless and scheming EJ on Days of Our Lives. Soap fans may be surprised to learn that he also played Agron, Spartacus’s right-hand man, in the racy TV show of the same name. Feuerriegel was recently on a podcast where he talked about his career and a major health issue he had in his younger days.
He Had a Low Heart Rate
What’s Your Limp is a podcast that “Wants to help our listeners learn that they aren’t alone in their struggles. Not only that, but we want to help give them tools and healthy coping mechanisms to better deal with whatever it is they might be going through,” according to its website. Its host, Jordan Ross, posted a clip from his recent interview with Feuerriegel on Instagram.
He captioned it, “We were joined by @thedanfeuerriegel a while back to talk about the film industry, the difference between acting in Spartacus vs Days of Our Lives & why he had to get a pacemaker at 17 years old.” Although the full episode wasn’t available at the time of this writing. In the clip, Ross asked Feuerriegel why he received a pacemaker when he was only 17 years old. “My heart rate was beating on the intrinsic heart rate, which is the body’s underlying natural rhythm,” the actor explained.
He Couldn’t Tell If It Was Working
At the time, he found himself sleeping more than usual and was prone to dizzy spells. After a visit to the cardiologist, it was determined that he required a pacemaker. “And it just felt like a really quick decision,” he said. “In the first year that I had my operation, I had three operations…because it kept stopping. And I couldn’t tell when it stopped.”
He found the constant surgeries “annoying” and wound up taking over three months to completely recover. At that age, he wondered if it was even working at all because he had no way of knowing if it was doing its job. He didn’t feel much different than before he had it installed. “But I think I remember someone saying that it’s about when I sleep.” He further noted, “That’s what it’s there for, because your heart rate slows down, and they don’t want it to go down too low where…you pass away in your sleep.”