TMZ Sports recently caught up with WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, who shed some light on the recent health scare that kept him hospitalized and in the ICU over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Duggan stated,
“I was on the road. I wrestled this past weekend up in Richmond, Virginia and I flew up to New York for an autograph session. I flew back Sunday night and I had a little tightness in my chest. Of course, years ago, I tore my pec muscle and never had it fixed, so I thought that was the problem. I drove back from Virginia on Monday and Tuesday night I was trying to move some boxes for my daughter and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe how out of shape I am.’ I can’t walk up the stairs carrying a box because I was like [hyperventilating sound]. I was really having trouble breathing, so Tuesday morning I got up and I was trying to take my blood pressure. My wife came in and I said, ‘Maybe we should go get an EKG, but not at the hospital.’ She’s like, ‘We’re going to the hospital!’ Of course, we went in and with a chest problem they take quite care of you and the first EKG they did and six or eight more people came into the room and started sticking me and plugging me up to machines and stuff, which was pretty terrifying to tell you the truth, because I’ve been relatively healthy my whole life and never had a heart problem. Then all of a sudden having all these folks with masks on working on you – seriously working on you – was pretty terrifying and of course, they told me my heart had gone into Afib, which is not like a life threatening deal and a lot of folks live with Afib without even realizing it.”
Since being diagnosed, Duggan has received supportive calls from fellow WWE legends; Bill Eadie (Ax of Demolition), Jerry “The King” Lawler, Hulk Hogan, and The Nasty Boys. Duggan sounds like a changed man in light of the recent health scare,
“Of course, all kinds of issues go on in your life; you know, your job, money issues, something like that. Once you throw a health issue into everything it realizes how unimportant everything else is. My main concern – I have two daughters and a wife – I just wanted to survive it and thank the Lord I will be able to.”
(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)
Duggan also implores those watching that if something feels wrong, they should not wait to seek immediate medical attention.
