Heart Attack

IT WAS KEPT A SECRET longer than one might expect, but People magazine reports Rosie O'Donnell suffered a heart attack last week. As Rosie is one of the more polarizing celebs Tattle has ever written about, Internet comments sections are probably full of good (and not so good) wishes. According to People , Rosie, 50, played Internet doctor when she was beset by painful symptoms and took a Bayer aspirin (product placement not paid for) as she'd seen in ads. "Thank god/saved by a tv commercial/literally," she blogged Monday.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A jury Wednesday found a California man guilty of murdering five people who had heart attacks after he deliberately started a blaze that ballooned into a huge wildfire. Jurors in San Bernardino found Rickie Fowler, 30, guilty of setting the Old Fire in the foothills above San Bernardino in October 2003 that burned 91,000 acres and torched 1,000 buildings over nine days. Prosecutors charged Fowler with the murders of five men, ranging in age from 54 to 93, who died from heart attacks after their homes burned to the ground or as they rushed to evacuate.

Michael J. Green, 57, of Folcroft, Delaware County, a former welder at the Limerick Generating Station, the nuclear energy plant in Montgomery County, died of a heart attack Monday, July 30, while visiting in Newtown Square. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Green grew up in Broomall and graduated from Marple Newtown High School in 1973. "I met him in 1982," his former wife, Kim, said, "so he was probably there for four years or so" at the Limerick plant. After other employment over the years, she said, Mr. Green had worked in recent years as a mechanic at Ron's Auto & Truck Repair in Glenolden.

Eugenio de Araujo Sales, 91, Rio de Janeiro's former archbishop who provided shelter to thousands of people opposed to the military regimes that once ruled Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, died of a heart attack in his sleep late Monday, the archdiocese's website reported. Archbishop Sales was ordained as a priest in 1943 in the northeastern city of Natal. In 1971, he became archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, a position he held until 2001, when he retired. One year earlier, he told the O Globo newspaper that from 1976-82 he provided shelter to close to 5,000 Brazilian opponents of Brazil's 1964-85 military regime and political refugees fleeing the dictatorships of Argentina and Chile.

WE'LL TAKE "CARDIOLOGY" for $800. Longtime "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek had a mild heart attack Saturday and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Paula Askanas, a spokeswoman for Sony Television, which distributes the popular game show, said Sunday that Trebek is expected to make a full recovery and return to "Jeopardy!" when the show resumes production in July. While he was in the hospital on Saturday, "Jeopardy!" won a Daytime Emmy award for best game show.

Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda was in New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday after what the team called a "mild" heart attack. The 84-year-old Hall of Famer became ill Monday while in town to represent the club at the Major League Baseball draft. The Norristown native was resting comfortably after doctors inserted a stent to correct a blocked artery, the team said in a release. "The doctors confirmed I do bleed Dodger Blue," Lasorda chirped in the statement.

We begin when Mother Mary falls seriously ill and has to be rushed to the hospital. Don't worry, this will get funny by the end. But in the middle, we learn that her legs are swelling, which is somehow connected to her heart. This I cannot explain, and even after a week with her in the hospital, I still don't understand. I thought the leg bone was connected to the hip bone, not the heart, but that's beside the point. Mother Mary enters the hospital in Miami while I'm on a book tour, and Brother Frank tell me it's serious, so, of course, I cancel the end of tour and fly down there with Daughter Francesca.

With a record 40,000 competitors set for Sunday's Blue Cross Broad Street Run, many may be looking for an energy boost. They may want to consider some advice from the International Marathon Medical Directors Association: Don't load up on caffeine. The group's recommendation — to consume no more than 200 mg of caffeine the morning of a race of 10K or more — is not widely known, even among endurance athletes. The guidance is aimed at an uncommon but disturbing phenomenon: young, experienced, seemingly healthy runners dropping dead near the finish line for reasons that are never explained.

VERSAILLES, Ky. - Dynaformer, the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, died Sunday at Three Chimneys Farm two weeks after suffering a heart attack in his stall. The 27-year-old stallion was one of the most successful sires in the thoroughbred industry with 21 crops that have earned more than $105 million, including 130 stakes winners and 18 millionaires. Three Chimneys president Case Clay said in a news release Sunday that "Dynaformer impacted the industry in a way that few ever have or will" and called him an awe-inspiring horse to be around.

Ann Brunner was at home with her best friend when a sudden, wrenching pain took her breath away. Her chest felt like it was being crushed by a sumo wrestler, the squeeze migrating to her shoulders and back. She fell into a chair and her friend told her that her face was ashen. "I felt like the plug on my life had been pulled," Brunner recalls. Later, in the emergency room at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, an abnormal electrocardiogram and elevated blood enzymes confirmed what Brunner, a nurse for 34 years, already suspected.