Ashley Cooke is one of country music’s bright young stars, but the singer has been open about a frightening health issue that she carries with her.
Cooke provided more information on her diagnosis in an interview with Taste of Country last summer.
“It’s a genetic thing called Brugada syndrome,” she told the site. “A lot of my family members have passed away unexpectedly, very healthy and very young, from it. So it’s very scary.”
The Mayo Clinic says that Brugada syndrome is “a rare but potentially life-threatening heart rhythm condition that is sometimes inherited.”
It adds that people with Brugada syndrome have “an increased risk of irregular heart rhythms beginning in the lower chambers of the heart (ventricles). This disease can cause an abnormal rhythm in the heart’s lower chambers, leading to ventricular fibrillation (v-fib) and sudden cardiac death, often occurring while at rest or asleep.”
Cooke told Taste of Country she underwent multiple EKGs to get to the diagnosis and is working with a cardiologist to try to find out more about her condition.
“The crazy part is, it doesn’t really impact anything about my daily life,” she said. “That’s the scary part about Brugada syndrome. It just feels like a ghost around you. Because there’s no warning signs, no symptoms. It’s just one of those things where all of a sudden one day, this certain thing in your heart can just stop, and you’re just gone.”
IT is all very scary, but Cooke is championing on, staying busy and her star continues to rise. She is out on tour now.