Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman Diagnosed With Pulmonary Embolism: ‘Ticking Time Bomb’

Dog the Bounty Hunter Star Duane Chapman (C) with his daughter Bonnie (front R) in Edgewater, Colo., on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman revealed that he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, according to reports.

Chapman, 66, was hospitalized briefly after a health scare in Colorado. In an interview on the “Dr. Oz Show,” slated to air this week, the TV doctor revealed that he suffered a pulmonary embolism in the heart, E! Online reported.

“You’re a ticking time bomb,” Dr. Mehmet Oz told Chapman. “You’re not going to be here with the heart the way it is right now. Fear of death is normal. I’m surprised you don’t fear death when you’re chasing after convicts. But when you run away from doctor, that means you have to do your own doctoring.”

“I said after Beth left, ‘I’m not afraid to die,’” Chapman replied. “Oh, I was afraid to die. I said, ‘Please let go of my heart, honey. Quit squeezing my heart.’ So I take that back. I’m not afraid to go. I don’t want to.”

Oz then told him that hypertension “is the biggest ager of all.”

Bounty Hunter Dog Chapman (R) and his wife Beth Chapman of "Dog The Bounty Hunter" speaks with the press at the TCA Press Tour Cable at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on July 21, 2004. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

“It’s like a fire hydrant that’s popped off its lid and is squirting water, scraping off that delicate lining of your arteries. Your body’s gotta heal that and you’re using the bad cholesterol that you have to heal it,” he said.

Oz also told People magazine that Chapman, 66, was “denying care that he knew would be life saving.”

“[Duane] was fearful,” he added. “Beth had been his north star. She was the one that would go with him and keep him balanced so he could deal with these things. Losing her took away his biggest support.”

According to People, Chapman is now on blood thinners and is attempting to stop smoking cigarettes.

“Once this goes away, I am 100 percent. I’ve had fears. The blood clot is not a normal thing but it happens a lot, but I’m going to be 100 percent. I’m encouraged by it,” he said.

Duane and Beth Chapman in a stock photo (Getty Images | Rick Diamond)

In late June, Chapman’s wife, Beth, died after battling cancer for several years.

Pulmonary Embolism

The Cleveland Clinic says a “pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the lung that occurs when a clot in another part of the body (often the leg or arm) moves through the bloodstream and becomes lodged in the blood vessels of the lung.”

It then “restricts blood flow to the lungs, lowers oxygen levels in the lungs and increases blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries,” according to its website.

A pulmonary embolism can dissolve on its own but can be fatal if left untreated.