Country singer Michael English has told The Oliver Callan Show on RTÉ Radio 1 that he is feeling "much better" after recently suffering a mild heart attack.
The 46-year-old was on his way to a gig when the medical emergency occurred.
"It was the same as any other day," he told the host.
"I just felt the batteries were a little bit low. I felt I wasn't firing on all cylinders, but you can feel like that when you're on the way to a gig, particularly if you've been out the night before or whatever.
"I headed off with Bryan (Buckley), my manager, he travels with me. And just halfway on the journey, I felt that things weren't right, and I asked Bryan to take over the wheel."
English recounted that he had "no energy" at all, his heart was racing, and he blacked out "for the next 20 minutes".
Buckley drove the singer to University Hospital Waterford, and English thanked the staff there and also at the Hermitage Clinic in Dublin for the care he received.
"They got me going again, and so it's 10 days later, it's all systems go, back to normal," he continued.
"I never thought it would happen to me, but I suppose I just wanted to... I decided to talk about it in the hope that it might help somebody else.
"It's important to get yourself checked out, and I certainly will be doing that going forward.
"If it helps one person, it's good to talk about these things."
Regarding future treatment, he said: "I had a mild heart attack. They're going to let the heart settle, let it heal before I have any more [tests done].
"I had all the tests and the full MOT, but they just have one more test they want to do, but they want to wait until it's completely healed, which will be in, they say, about another week."
English, who plays around 300 shows a year, went back on the road at the weekend.
"I had three nights in Mullingar," he said.
"I got the green light. I love performing. I don't want to let the people down who are all arriving at the shows. I've a band. I've a crew. I've a lot of people to think about."
He stressed that he "didn't do it foolishly or irresponsibly".
"I did genuinely get the green light to go ahead."
"It's back to normal, but it was a wake-up call," the Kildare man admitted.
"I think anybody who knows me probably knows that I eat, sleep, and drink the business, and that's what I'm going to continue to do.
"But the advice from the doctor is to continue doing that, but to have a 'me day' every week."
The Oliver Callan Show, weekdays, 11:00am, RTÉ Radio 1
