Below Deck star and Matt Rogers’ boyfriend suffers ‘vape poisoning’ heart attack
Fraser Olender has said he had a heart attack related to vape poisoning. (Instagram/@fraserolender)
Fraser Olender has said he had a heart attack related to vape poisoning. (Instagram/@fraserolender)
TV personality Fraser Olender, best known for his role as a Steward on Bravo’s reality series Below Deck, has revealed that he recently experienced a heart attack due to “vape poisoning”.
The 33-year-old Brit issued a health update in a lengthy Instagram post over the weekend, explaining that he was “rushed to hospital” in November due to “severe chest pains” and “difficulties breathing”.
“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,” he wrote in his social media post.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, an EVALI is “a serious inflammatory lung condition that often requires hospitalisation,” which can be caused by the chemicals in vaping products.
“Symptoms generally affect your breathing, but may also cause abdominal issues, fever and chills,” the organisation notes.
The Below Deck star, who is also the boyfriend of comedian and Las Culturistas host Matt Rogers, shared the update alongside a series of photos of himself taken during his hospital stay.
In the first, he is standing shirtless in a hospital room, with three medical patches stuck to his torso. In the fourth, a short clip, Rogers is sat by his bedside.
“Whatever was in my vape caused me to have a coronary artery vasospasm,” Olender continued.
“Medically, that means 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 that he is still “recovering now” and wanted to share his experience to encourage others to “rethink vaping”.
“I haven’t touched a vape since this happened and never will. 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 wrote.
“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.”
The Bravo star went on to share additional benefits of having been away from his vape for the past three weeks.
“My skin has never been better, brighter and clearer, there MUST be a correlation. BEST skincare hack out there,” he shared.
In the comment section, his fans shared their well wishes, with Below Deck’s Captain Sandy Yawn writing: “No way! You have been blessed,” alongside a love heart emoji.
“Proud of you for sharing this, and more than anything i’m so happy that you are OK. Love you so much,” added the show’s fellow star Hayley De Sola Pinto.
Fraser Olender joined Below Deck back in season nine in 2021, and remains part of the crew. In season 10, he became the show’s first ever male Chief Steward. He confirmed his relationship with Matt Rogers last month, amid his then private health scare.
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