Stevie Richards Details His Spine Infection Health Scare
It's been a difficult year for Stevie Richards. In February, the pro wrestling veteran posted a photo of himself in a hospital gown and using a walker, citing numerous health issues. Fast forward to March and he was discharged from the hospital, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks after his stay that he revealed the extent of his diagnosis: an infection to his vertebrae that started eating away at his spine. He discussed the health scare with Chris Van Vliet.
"This spine infection was a dormant thing that became a mystery and hit me outta nowhere," Richards revealed. "It was something that an illness like that, that's so unpredictable, then you factor in my age at 51 ... And it moves so quickly when it gets to your spine. That's what makes it more scary."
The unknown coupled with the speed with which this infection took over is what scared Richards the most. For a man who has wrestled for nearly 30 years, this suddenly became his biggest challenge. Fortunately, the medical staff was eventually able to figure things out and get them under control. Over that time period, though, Richards' worries reverted to whether or not he could get treated and if he'd be okay after the fact.
"I'm thankful to say that in a lot of ways I feel like I'm back to 100 percent," Richards added. "But in a whole bunch of other ways, we're very early in the stages in my road to recovery."
What Started as an Excellent Workout Quickly Turned
As Richards was going through it all, experiencing tremendous pain and hitting something of a personal low point, he didn't let his pride or ego stop him from keeping people updated despite some reservations. Ultimately, he's so thankful for that.
"Going back to the beginning, morning, like late January ... I had one of the best workouts," he continued before quipping that must have been a sign of the jinx that was coming. "But my back was a little stiff."
Obviously, after a decades-long career in professional wrestling coupled with the fact that he's north of 50 years old, that isn't too uncommon. And then things got significantly worse.
"About three hours after my workout, I was completely stuck right in this chair that we're talking to each other in right now," he explained. "I could not get up. My back was completely at the time thought locked out, and my wife literally had to come home and peel me out of this chair."
From there, Richards' wife physically moved him into bed, gave him a heating pad, and they hoped for the best. The opposite happened.
"Then, it just progressively got worse within seconds — not minutes, not — I mean literally. It just accelerated ... From 9 AM till about 12:15 PM, my entire world, my entire life just completely changed."
A diagnosis didn't arrive immediately, and by the time it did things were already significantly worse.
A Miraculous Turnaround
Roughly eight-to-nine months before his back locked up on that fateful Sunday morning, Richards contracted COVID-19, which his doctor suggested didn't help his immune system by the time this spinal infection made its presence known. Yet due to keeping in shape over the years, his doctor also believed Richards was in a better position to fight it from the beginning. Nonetheless, it broke him down.
"I'm still down about 30 pounds ... I went from 215 down to 180 in a matter of weeks," Richards recalled. "Just from pain 24-7, like sweats where we had to change the sheets out almost every day. It was horrible how much pain I was in 24-7."
Once Richards got on the antibiotics, his fortunes quickly turned around. Within 48 hours, he felt as though he could actually move around. Though, he still needed a walker and assistance. While he would've liked to resume working out earlier on his road to recovery, he's thankful for where his body is at today.
"I'm telling you, it's a miracle," he continued. "I mean, people can believe what they want to believe. This obviously has brought me much closer to God once again ... This forced me to kinda have perspective once again. It forced me to renew my faith."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.