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Privacy NoticeSocial media influencer and YouTuber Casey Barker suffered a major heart attack last year at the age of 27 and was just “moments away from death”. Casey, 27, lives in Brighton with his fiancée, Nicole Corrales, 25, and their three children, Harlow, 5, Lake, 3, and Remi, 6 months. Fans may recognise the father of three from Instagram, where he regularly shares personal and family updates with his over 300K followers while also creating vlogs for his YouTube channel which boasts over 500K subscribers. The 27 year old is also the brother of Saffron Barker, 22, who is a YouTuber and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019 and who also has a huge social media presence.
Social media influencer and Youtuber Casey Barker suffered a major heart attack last year at the age of 27
(Image: Instagram)
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While Casey is “an open book” and regularly documents his life with his following, on December 29, 2022, his life flipped upside down when he suffered a major heart attack at his home in Brighton. Talking about what happened Casey spoke exclusively to OK! and said: “It was really strange, I was at home having a more chilled morning than I usually do because it’s that week between Christmas and New Year. “It was the one day I was just chilling, doing absolutely nothing”. He continued: “It got to lunchtime and all of a sudden, at first I felt a little bit of heartburn”. The father of three told his fiancée Nicole, but in the space of four to five minutes said he was “curled up on the floor” tensing his “whole body” and arching his back in pain.
Casey, 27, lives in Brighton with his fiancée, Nicole Corrales
(Image: Instagram)
He said: “It was really bad,” adding that their kids were in the same room and were wondering what he was doing. Casey shares that he’s diabetic but “gets over it” when he doesn’t feel well and said: “I could tell from the off that this was different. I have quite a strong pain barrier. “The closest feeling I could compare it to is heartburn but on another level, like crazy heartburn.” As the pain continued at home Casey called an ambulance wanting to speak to them himself but said he was struggling to get the words out and thought at the time “I feel like I’m going to die”. Casey said the waiting time for an ambulance “was really long”, so instead Nicole drove him straight to the hospital which was around 15 minutes away. Knowing they’d get there quicker their three children went with them but were “completely oblivious” of what was happening.
Casey, 27, lives in Brighton with his fiancée, Nicole Corrales, 25 and their three children, Harlow, 5 Lake, 3 and Remi, 6 months
(Image: Instagram)
He said the car journey “felt like a lifetime”. “I was getting really dizzy and I was ‘like oh my god I feel really bad’ – it was getting worse and worse,” Casey explained. When he arrived at the hospital he was seen really quickly and went on to have some tests taken including an ECG, he wasn’t told at first what was wrong but suspected it could be a heart attack but assumed it wasn’t, adding “I was in excruciating pain”. He went for an angiogram and was told by a doctor “‘You’re having a major heart attack’” with Casey saying: “I think that there was a light switch moment in my head. “That was the biggest mental hurdle I hit because when that happened, I was like questioning everything. “That’s when I really genuinely felt like I might not actually get home, I may never see my kids again, my eyes just started flooding down”. Casey added that the “biggest scare” for him was when he asked the doctor what would have happened if he had waited two hours for an ambulance to arrive to which they replied: “You wouldn’t be here if you got here 20 minutes later you may not have lived or your brain would have been affected”. After hearing that he said “It was a bit of an epiphany moment, I was like ‘wow’ I’ve been given a second chance. “I think mentally that made me a bit stronger, knowing that I was that close and now I’ve got a second chance at it, I’ve got to do everything I can in my power to feel better”. But added: “Saying that the first two or three weeks being at home was really difficult, mentally and physically”. Previously Casey was relatively healthy, played football regularly and trained at the gym and was told his heart attack was a “pretty unlucky diagnosis”, with no explanation as to why it happened. After around two days in the hospital, Casey returned home but said: “I had no idea how much aftercare you need after a heart attack”. He was given a number of tasks to do each week to help with the recovery such as five minutes of walking or making a cup of tea but said he felt like he was “really far behind on it” for the first three weeks and spent the majority of time in bed. Adding: “I couldn’t lift my baby for the first five weeks or something, she was only like two or three months old at the time”. The father of three said they didn’t tell the children he had a heart attack until around two or three weeks after being home, he said: “They obviously knew something was wrong and they knew that I was ill because I’d been in bed for three weeks, I didn’t leave the house. “They’d always come in and say good night and give me cuddles.
Casey Barker said his family ‘pulled together’ after his heart attack
(Image: Instagram)
“I would say my heart was really poorly and now I’m feeling much better”. Talking further about his support, Casey shared: “My family really pulled together” including sister Saffron, sharing that his mum moved in with them to help and Nicole was really supportive. After around three weeks of not doing much Casey said “It got to a sort of tipping point” where he felt like he wasn’t “doing enough” and so started to really push himself in his recovery. Looking back Casey said: “I feel like the heart attack sort of saved my life more than anything” and “now I’ve sort of got something to prove”. While the recovery from his major heart attack took a while Casey has since returned to the gym and said “I feel better than I’ve ever felt, stronger, mentally and physically” by leading an even healthier lifestyle than before. He adds that his outlook on life has “completely changed” and said the heart attack “shaped a better version of myself”. Casey has since used his social media to share his story and to help raise awareness, where he received “thousands upon thousands of messages” from people in similar situations or offering their own support. He said: “I love sharing my journey”. Talking about his social media following he said “I do feel a responsibility to show, what’s possible from being down, almost out, to now feeling better and stronger than I’ve ever felt. “I’m in such a fortunate position that I can help so many people by just sharing my story and raising awareness of it. “I’ve noticed that the more I speak about it, the more people I’m helping and it’s helping me too”. “Everyday is still recovery” and “life really is that close to not being there”, Casey shares. “I feel so lucky to be able to see tomorrow”. Talking about his future Casey is looking forward to marrying Nicole in the next few years, they are yet to set a date but are planning to get married in Italy as a European wedding is “something she’s always dreamt of”. He is focusing on spending time with his family and is also planning to take part in a range of different charity work at the same time as continuing to share his journey through his social media accounts. To find out more about Casey’s journey and to follow his journey you can visit his Instagram at caaseybarker. READ MORE: For all your daily celebrity news and gossip, sign up to OK!’s newsletter – CLICK HERE Olivia and Alex Bowen are picture perfect as they enjoy beach time with son Binky Felstead’s romance with husband Max Darnton as couple welcome second child Natasha Hamilton: ‘My son swore and my daughter cried when I said I was pregnant’ Heidi Range says having her ‘blessing’ Aurelia helped her through miscarriage heartbreak Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnStrictly Come DancingHealth
