David Saul arrived back on the Island yesterday after having a minor heart attack last week and being airlifted to Boston.

The former Premier spoke to The Royal Gazette soon after getting home from the Lahey Clinic, where doctors fitted him with two stents and told him to temporarily reduce his vigorous exercise regime.

He told this newspaper he felt "perfectly alright" and planned to run the May 24 half-marathon next year.

"I am supposed to be better than ever," said Dr. Saul. "The prognosis is excellent. I have to start on a little walking before I run again.

"I'm on a number of pills. I'm on a couple of them for a year or two."

He added: "I think I'm going to wake up tomorrow and this is all going to be a nightmare."

Dr. Saul, who was UBP Premier from 1995 until 1997, suffered the heart attack without knowing about it three weeks ago — and subsequently went diving with tiger sharks in the Pacific.

The 69-year-old father-of-two had what he thought was just a sore throat before he went on vacation to Midway Island, a tiny atoll between Hawaii and Japan, but his symptoms got worse during the diving.

"I went down to 65ft and when I came up and hung on the little chain at 15ft to decompress I started coughing and I coughed for three minutes flat," he said. "That was a giveaway that something was wrong."

Midway Island has no medical facilities so Dr. Saul didn't see a doctor until arriving back in Bermuda a week ago. His GP immediately referred him to a cardiologist, who did an ECG (electrocardiogram) and told him he needed to be flown straight to the States.

"He didn't even let me ride my bike home," said the director of Fidelity Investments, adding that he knew he should have been on drugs for his heart as his mother died in her late 60s.

"It's fully genetic," said the keen cyclist and kayaker. "I should have been on drugs long ago but I thought I could control it with physical fitness and exercise."

He added: "All being well I will be running May 24 next year. I just have to take things easy."