In a recent interview with Page Six, Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed how he had a near-death experience when his doctors made a grave mistake during his open-heart surgery.
The 76-year-old explained how his surgery was going to be a simple, non-invasive procedure but turned into complications for his medical team. He said, “I remember when I had my open heart surgery, the third one, which was just a few years ago just before we started ‘Terminator 6’.”
When he woke up, all the doctors were standing in front of him and revealed, “I’m so sorry, but it was unlike what we planned.” They actually poked through his heart wall, which caused excessive internal bleeding. Because of this, they had to open him up really quickly to save his life.
Arnold recalled his reaction after the surgery, which was quite sarcastic: “I said ‘Well great, this is really great news. I mean, Jesus.’ So anyway, the bottom line is, that you cannot roll the clock back. It was a disaster. I was in the middle of a disaster. So now it’s, how do I get out of it? You have to shift gears, collect yourself and shift gears.”
Despite the serious condition he was in, Arnold was determined to get himself back on his feet. Although the doctors were quite adamant about working out his lungs because of the increased risk posed by a potential pneumonia infection, he wanted to get out of the hospital and start training again because he had the ‘Terminator 6‘ shooting coming up.
How did Arnold Schwarzenegger get back on his feet for Terminator 6?
After just three months, Arnold Schwarzenegger went to shoot “Terminator 6″ and he didn’t disappoint his fans at all. He shared how he subsequently recovered after his open-heart surgery by sharing some of the footage of himself walking around the hospital to regain his strength.
After getting out of the hospital, the Terminator star started working out by moving around, running around, lifting things up, and doing fight scenes. With a positive attitude, he was quite determined to recover soon, and he knew exactly how to do it.
It’s true: I’m back! I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one – but guess what? I woke up, and that’s something to be thankful for. Thank you to the doctors & nurses. And I’m truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages.
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) April 2, 2018
Arnold often shares fitness and healthy living messages. And the way he rose above his struggle was, ironically, the perfect message to share with his fans. “I can already hear you saying, ‘Easy for you to say, Arnold. Fitness has always been your life, and you have always been in top shape.“
For his film, Arnold was more focused on working on his heart health and reducing fat. So, he did more cardio, and by keeping his age and injuries in mind, he relied mostly on machines.
Discussion about this post