Perpetually troubled British rocker Pete Doherty was rushed to the hospital last month, suffering from what was described at the time as “exhaustion.” Several gigs were canceled and, as expected, speculation of OD-ing emerged in the media. Now, Doherty himself reveals in a new interview cited by the Sun that it was his heart that was at fault – and that his condition was far worse than the public was told.

According to the former Babyshambles frontman, he was rushed to the hospital because his heart had stopped beating, and he had to be put on a life-support machine until his vitals came back to normal. At the same time, the rocker would like to use this opportunity to stress that drugs had nothing to do with his trip to the emergency room because, contrary to reports in the media, he continues to be fitted with implants.

“If I hadn’t been on a life support machine I’d have been in Ireland. But my heart stopped. It was a really strange turn of events.” Doherty says, as cited by the Sun. “Obviously, the doctors’ immediate thought was that it was to do with drugs but it wasn’t – it was some kind of poisoning. What happened? Well, I don’t know, I don’t remember. At the time I thought I was a taxi driver offering to take everyone to Elephant And Castle.” he says of what happened before being taken to the hospital.

“I was running into the walls, making steering wheel signs with my hands. And then I just... stopped. My body just stopped.” he continues. While not knowing what is wrong with him, Pete also has to worry about doctors telling him that his heart rate is not OK, he says. “The doctors are concerned about my heart rate. I’ve always had a slight dickie heart, I was born with it. I’m fragile in there, you know?” the rocker adds.

As we were also telling you back in September, although he continues to remain clean of drugs, mostly because of the implants he’s been fitted with by court order to curb the urge to use, Pete Doherty is not well. Back then, the rocker was sharing with the media that he considered suicide upon turning 30 – luckily, a thought he did not carry through.