Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, proved he was in "good spirits" as he woke up from emergency heart surgery on Thursday, by referencing his trademark Terminator phrase.
The ageing star and former Governor of California hit headlines on Friday, after he reportedly suffered complications during a catheter valve replacement operation at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, prompting doctors to perform urgent open heart surgery.
Arnold's spokesman, Daniel Ketchell, has since assured fans that the actor is recovering fast, claiming the procedures were nothing out of the ordinary and were related to a previous operation he had undergone 21 years ago.
Ketchell wrote in a statement posted on Twitter, "Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger underwent a planned procedure at Cedars-Sinai to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997."
"That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived its life expectancy, so he chose to replace it yesterday through a less-invasive catheter valve replacement. During that procedure, an open-heart surgery team was prepared, as they frequently are in these circumstances, in case the catheter procedure was unable to be performed."
"Governor Schwarzenegger's pulmonic valve was successfully replaced and he is currently recovering from the surgery and is in stable condition."
"I appreciate the entire medical team for their tireless efforts", Ketchell wrote' He also added that the 70-year-old's sense of humour remains fully intact, as he uttered a line similar to his famous Terminator catchphrase.
In a follow-up tweet Ketchell wrote, "Update: @Schwarzenegger is awake and his first words were actually 'I'm back', so he is in good spirits."
