A Bravo reality TV star revealed he was hospitalized for a lung injury and a heart attack caused by an unexpected reason.
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Below Deck star Fraser Olender shared a series of selfies from his hospital room on Instagram on Friday, revealing he has been recovering from a health issue over the past few weeks.
In the post’s caption, the Bravo personality explained he was “rushed to hospital due to severe chest pains and difficulties breathing.” After the incident, he spent a week with specialists to figure out what happened. “To keep it simple — I had vape poisoning (an E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)), and I have never experienced fear or pain like it.”
E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) was first identified in 2019. It encompasses a range of conditions, including bronchiolitis obliterans (also known as “popcorn lung”) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), per the American Lung Association. More than half of all patients diagnosed with EVALI require treatment in an intensive care unit.
Olender’s vape caused a coronary artery vasospasm, which he described as “the arteries supplying blood to my heart suddenly clamped down.”
“That spasm reduced blood flow enough to cause an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), better known as a heart attack — not because of a blockage, but because my heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen during the spasm,” Olender added.
The Bravo star went on to write that he’s “grateful to still be recovering now, and I’m sharing this because I never realised something like this could happen. If this experience can help even one person rethink vaping, it’s worth telling.”
Fraser Olender Describes Enduring ‘Inexplicable’ Pain
Some of the photos he shared had a playful spin—like rocking a red-light therapy mask during recovery or his boyfriend, Las Culturistas host Matt Rogers, throwing up a peace sign during a hospital visit, proving even hospital vibes can have a touch of flair.
However, Olender made sure to stress the seriousness of his health scare.
“The pain I endured for 24 hours was inexplicable, 2 rounds of morphine didn’t touch the sides, and eventually had to be given the strongest pain relief legal to administer in ER — and that only brought my pain from a 10 to a 7,” he pointed out. “I haven’t touched a vape since this happened and never will.”
The Bravo star also urged others to drop their vaping habits.
“I could have died for the sake of something so ridiculously stupid, so please do yourselves a favour and give it up too — cold turkey. We do not know enough about these horrific things, but I can tell you one thing: that was NOT cute, not even for the plot.”
Olender wrapped up his post with a message to his followers.
“Love you all, be safe, put your health first, and thank you for all of your well wishes,” he wrote.
“It’s been nearly 3 weeks off the vape – my skin has never been better, brighter, and clearer, there MUST be a correlation. BEST skincare hack out there,” he joked.