Ashley Cooke Opens Up About Diagnosed Heart Condition
The 28-year-old country singer reveals that she has recently been navigating a genetic heart condition.
Last week, Ashley Cooke posted a video on TikTok giving fans an update on her life. She said that while it’s been one of the biggest years for her career, it’s also been the hardest personally.
Cooke shared that over the past year, she’s gone through several heartbreaking moments. Both of her grandmothers passed away, her father was diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time, and just four months ago, her mother had a serious heart attack that required a stent.
She also said that she is dealing with her own health issues after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition.
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The “Your Place” singer confirmed that her condition is called Brugada syndrome.
Cooke explained more about her recent diagnosis during an interview with Taste of Country.
“A lot of my family members have passed away unexpectedly, very healthy and very young, from it. So it’s very scary,” Cooke said.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Brugada syndrome is a “rare but potentially life-threatening heart rhythm condition” that can be inherited.
Those who are diagnosed with Brugada syndrome “have an increased risk of irregular heart rhythms beginning in the lower chambers of the heart.”
The syndrome can be tricky because most of the time, there are no symptoms, which is what Cooke says she is experiencing.
“The crazy part is, it doesn’t really impact anything about my daily life,” she says. “That’s the scary part of Brugada syndrome. It just feels like a ghost around you. Because there’s no warning signs, no symptoms. It’s just one of those things where all of a sudden one day, this certain thing in your heart can just stop, and you’re just gone.”
She went on to say that having the heart condition was “terrifying.”
“It doesn’t impact anything that I do, or how I function, until one day, it maybe just could,” she adds.
Cooke is doing everything she can to manage it while also staying focused on her family. She mentioned that her mom was hospitalized again after experiencing chest pains.
“Obviously, four months ago, [she had a heart attack] and so we were like, ‘Okay, go go go, get her to the hospital,” she said.
The good news is that her mother was able to return home shortly after.
“They said they don’t really know, it probably was a muscle spasm or something. Thankfully it wasn’t anything they needed to rush her into surgery for.”