Jamie Dornan experienced a hospitalization in Portugal due to suspected heart attack symptoms resulting from contact with “toxic caterpillars.” The Co Down-born actor, aged 41, was on a golfing holiday with friends, including TV presenter Gordon Smart, when he fell ill.
While starring in The Tourist, Dornan recounted how his limbs went numb, leading to his hospitalization. During the same trip, Smart, aged 43, also became unwell, experiencing “tingling in his left hand and tickling in his left arm,” along with a heart rate of 120 beats per minute.
Reflecting on the events on the Scottish BBC panel show The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected, Smart shared that their health issues emerged a day after playing golf. He sought medical attention at a local center, where a nurse identified his elevated resting heart rate. Taking a taxi to the hospital, Smart eventually collapsed.
Upon waking up, he found himself connected to medical equipment, with a doctor questioning his activities. After being discharged, Smart returned to his hotel to discover Dornan undergoing medical treatment.
“Jamie said, ‘Dear me. Gordon, about 20 minutes after you left, my left arm went numb, my left leg went numb, my right leg went numb, and I found myself in the back of an ambulance’,” he said.
Approximately a week later, the doctor informed Smart that their symptoms might have been caused by exposure to toxic caterpillars.
“And it turns out that there are caterpillars on golf courses in the south of Portugal that have been killing people’s dogs and giving men in their 40s heart attacks,” he said.
“It turns out we’d brushed up against hairy processionary caterpillars and have been very lucky to come out of that one alive.”
