Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy was rushed to hospital last week following severe chest pains.
The 83-year-old actor – who played Spock in the original Star Trek series – was taken to hospital following a 911 emergency call when the actor began experiencing what is described as ‘severe chest pains’.
According to TMZ, Leonard Nimoy was rushed into hospital on 19 February and was transferred to the UCLA Medical Center.
“We’re told paramedics weren’t taking chances with Spock,” they said, “and got him in front of a doctor ASAP.”
No further details were available at this time.
Of course, Nimoy’s hospitalisation follows a number of hospital trips over the last few months due to a condition known as COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Nimoy himself attributes this to a long history of smoking… even though he’d quit smoking over thirty years ago.
But he blames the illness on his decades-long smoking habit. In fact, Leonard Nimoy himself took to Twitter back in 2014 to discuss his long-term illness.
“I quit smoking 30 years ago,” he said. “Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! [Live Long and Prosper].”
Last seen on screen in the 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness, Nimoy was also rumoured to be reprising his role for the third film in the rebooted science fiction series. Rumoured to star along with old friend William Shatner, it was set to be the Star Trek reunion of a lifetime.
But after script changes and the appointment of new writers, it’s unclear whether these presumably touching scenes have made the cut.
Of course, we hope that both Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner will appear in the upcoming movie… but more importantly, we wish Nimoy a speedy recovery.
Live long and prosper, Commander Spock.
Star Trek 3 heads to cinemas on 8 July 2016.