Brooke Shields reveals she suffered grand mal seizure – and Bradley Cooper was by her side
Brooke Shields found her guardian angel in Bradley Cooper.
Shields opened up about how the "Maestro" star supported her through a recent medical episode in an interview with Glamour published Wednesday.
The actress, who wrapped her one-woman show "Previously Owned by Brooke Shields" in September, revealed Cooper came to her rescue after having a grand mal seizure before a performance.
"I was preparing for the show and I was drinking so much water, and I didn’t know I was low in sodium," Shields told the magazine. "I was waiting for an Uber. I get down to the bottom of the steps, and I start evidently looking weird and (the people I was with) were like, 'Are you OK?'"
A grand mal seizure, also known as a tonic-clonic seizure, causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions, according to Mayo Clinic. The condition is typically caused by epilepsy, but other health factors such as low blood sugar, high fever and stroke can also lead to seizure.
After walking into a restaurant, Shield recalled that "everything (started) to go black. Then my hands drop to my side, and I go headfirst into the wall."
When the restaurant's sommelier couldn't get in touch with Shield's husband Chris Henchy, an assistant reached out to Cooper, who was in the area.
"I didn't have a sense of humor. I couldn't really get any words out," Shields recalled. "But I thought to myself, 'This is what death must be like.' You wake up and Bradley Cooper’s going, 'I'm going to go to the hospital with you, Brooke,' and he's holding my hand. And I'm looking at my hand, I'm looking at Bradley Cooper's hand in my hand, and I'm like, 'This is odd and surreal.'"
Shields said the seizure stemmed from a sodium deficiency and drinking too much water.
"I flooded my system, and I drowned myself. And if you don't have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure," Shields said. "I was drinking too much water because I felt dehydrated because I was singing more than I've ever sung in my life and doing a show and a podcast. So, (the doctors) were just like, 'Eat potato chips every day.'"
Approaching health and fitness with self-compassion has become a priority for the "Pretty Baby" star.
"I love food and I love alcohol, and I love life and I want to be healthy for my heart," Shields said. "I don't like going to the gym. I like Pilates. That’s where I am. And I am tired of not feeling skinny enough. It's boring, and it's a waste of my time."
"I wish stuff was a little higher, and I have a bit of a belly that I never had and I could lose it if I really, really wanted to try," Shields concluded. "But I would rather spend that time having lunch, reading a book, walking, buying a piece of jewelry, going to my daughter's games."
Brooke Shields 'never' reconnected with ex Andre Agassi: 'People process things very differently'
'Stay alive and get out': Brooke Shields reveals she was raped in 'Pretty Baby' documentary
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brooke Shields reveals seizure; Bradley Cooper took her to hospital