DOCTORS have warned JOHN EDWARDS that he’ll be dead in six months if he doesn’t stop drinking!
The ENQUIRER has learned that the disgraced former presidential candidate, 59, suffered a heart attack scare in February, and his ex-mistress Rielle Hunter secretly rushed him to the hospital.
“John was at home when he started to feel pain and tightness in his chest,” a family source told The ENQUIRER. “He was certain that he was having a heart attack, so he called Rielle. She rushed over from her place nearby and drove him to the emergency room.”
After conducting tests and keeping him overnight for observation, doctors warned Edwards to cut back on the booze, sources said.
“John’s been drinking too much wine and gin and tonics,” revealed a close pal. “Doctors told him that he’d be dead in six months if he doesn’t stop drinking.”
After being released from N.C. Memorial Hospital, Edwards returned to the Chapel Hill, N.C., estate he shared with his late wife Elizabeth.
He now lives there with his two youngest kids, Emma Claire, 14, and Jack, 12.
Edwards has a family history of heart disease, and he collapsed with chest pains while jogging in December 2011.
IN January 2012, his criminal trial for misuse of campaign funds was postponed after his cardiologist claimed Edwards was scheduled to undergo heart surgery for an undisclosed condition.
Now, experts say Edwards’ heavy boozing could damage his heart muscle with fatal results.
“Chronic drinking can severely damage heart muscles and lead to heart failure,” Dr. Richard Stein, spokesman for the American Heart Association, told The ENQUIRER. “It can also cause hardening of the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.”
And Dr. Gabe Mirkin, author of “The Healthy Heart Miracle, added: “When the heart muscle becomes severely damaged, the patient is a certain candidate for premature and sudden death due to stroke, heart failure or heart attack.”
