(NewsCore) – Fans of popular Australian children’s musical group The Wiggles were Saturday sending “get well soon” messages to Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt after he underwent emergency heart surgery.
Fatt, 57, was forced to pull out of the group’s US tour after having a pacemaker fitted at Sydney’s Mater Hospital Friday, just 24 hours after being diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia, or an irregular heart beat.
Wiggles managing director Paul Field, brother of Blue Wiggle Anthony Field, said Fatt blacked out earlier this week. After telling his bandmates, they urged him to see a doctor who immediately spotted that he had a too-slow heart rate.
“We thank our lucky stars that he got himself looked at. He needs a pacemaker. As I speak to you, he’s going into hospital to have it fitted,” Field said.
“When he told us he had blacked out we were like, ‘woh, this could be serious.’
“Jeff’s one of the fittest guys in the group. He’s never missed a show in 20 years. But they fly out to the US today [Friday] and he won’t be joining them. He can’t fly for at least a month.”
It is the second health scare to hit the Wiggles. Former Yellow Wiggle Greg Page was forced to quit the group in 2006 because of a fatigue-related illness. He was replaced by understudy Sam Moran.
Fatt is expected to make a full recovery in time for the Wiggles’ Aussie tour in October.
The Wiggles have achieved worldwide success with their children’s albums, videos, television series, and concert appearances and were named Business Review Weekly’s top-earning Australian entertainers for four years in a row.
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