Harry Potter star tells fans she 'doesn't have long left to live' after undergoing heart procedure
Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes has told fans she “doesn’t have long to live” after undergoing a heart operation.
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Margolyes, best known as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter franchise, underwent a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in 2023.
Part of the procedure saw her heart valve being replaced by that of a cow.
This procedure has left the beloved actress fearing she just has six years to live.
"When you know that you haven't got long to live – and I'm probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before, I'm loath to leave behind performing,” she told The Times.
“It's such a joy.
“I yearn to play roles that don't confine me to wheelchairs, but I'm just not strong enough.
"I've got a cow's heart now. Well, not the whole heart. I've had an aortic valve replaced by a cow's aortic valve."
Explaining why she opted to undergo the procedure, she said: "I don't know how common it is. I'd never heard of that operation.
“But it saves you from having open heart surgery, which would be infinitely more invasive."
She added: "They made two little holes in your groin. One in each groin and then they shoved this thing through.
"And I don't know how they pull it up but they sort of pull it up with stereos. And then when it comes to the point, when it's in your heart, they pull a little string and it goes pow!
"And lo and behold, your artery or your aortic valve is shoved unceremoniously to the side."