Former UFC welterweight Ben Askren continues to maintain his optimism as he recovers from a life-threatening medical emergency that nearly claimed his life this summer. In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the wrestling legend opened up about his harrowing experience and the long road to recovery ahead.
What began as seemingly routine back pain in late May quickly escalated into a medical nightmare. Askren initially believed he was experiencing another back spasm, similar to ones he’d had throughout his wrestling career.
After rolling with Raphael Lovato and competing in a wrestling match, the pain persisted. It ended up leading to a fateful trip to Las Vegas for a Bitcoin conference.
“I told him I had a back spasm and I had a history of them,” Askren recalled about his first hospital visit in Vegas. However, what doctors discovered was far more serious than a simple back injury. A small staph infection on his elbow had somehow entered his bloodstream and traveled to his lungs, causing necrotizing pneumonia that was literally “eating” his lung tissue.
The situation deteriorated rapidly. After being transferred to a better hospital in Vegas and eventually flown back to Milwaukee on a specialized medical flight, Askren underwent emergency double lung transplant surgery. He remembers walking into the hospital but nothing afterward until waking up on July 2nd with two new lungs.
“There was multiple times when it was almost over,” Askren admitted, revealing that his heart had stopped for 20 seconds at one point during his ordeal. Medical staff had to sedate him heavily because even slight movements affected his oxygen levels.
The recovery process has been challenging for the notoriously active athlete. Askren dropped to a low weight of 138 pounds and continues to struggle with energy levels, describing how even simple tasks exhaust him. “Previously I would have done 10 things. I’m doing like three of those. And then that’s like exhausting,” he explained.
Despite the medical team’s reluctance to definitively rule out future wrestling, Askren acknowledges the reality of his situation. “I was so excited to wrestle and now it’s sad because I’ll probably never get to wrestle again,” he said, though he maintains some hope, adding, “They didn’t say no for sure.”
Askren currently focuses on what he can control rather than dwelling on what happened or what he’s lost. “Anxiety and stress in people is generally caused by thinking about things they cannot control,” he explained, applying the same philosophy he taught his wrestlers.
Currently, Askren has set up mats in his garage and begun giving private wrestling lessons to young athletes, finding ways to stay connected to the sport that defined his life.
