Harry Potter star tells fans she 'doesn't have long left to live' after undergoing heart procedure
27 May 2025, 13:35
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."
