Hardcore Holly fighting for his life
Hardcore Holly is one of the toughest competitors to ever step inside the squared circle. He has come out on top of countless battles over the years, but he’s currently facing the toughest battle of his life. Holly has been out of action since November and is currently at home suffering a serious staph infection. Doctors have told Holly that he’s lucky to not only still have his arm, but also to be alive. While Holly is currently taking extremely strong antibiotics to treat the infection, he’s not out of the woods from this life-threatening scare just yet. WWE.com caught up with Holly to talk about his current condition, how it all started, what’s keeping his spirits up and much more.
WWE.com: There are a lot of stories circulating on the
Internet about your condition. To set the record straight, what is your
current condition?
Hardcore Holly: Right now, instead of being in the
hospital, I’m sitting at home, hooked up to IV antibiotics. Because
the staph infection got so bad, I was hospitalized twice because the
antibiotics weren’t strong enough. When it came back the second time
I had to go in for emergency surgery. The infection was growing on my bone.
If they didn’t get the infection then I could have lost my arm, and
I’m still not in the clear from that. Instead of having to stay in
the hospital for the next several weeks, I’m at home getting
antibiotics twice a day. And that stuff is strong as sh*t, boy; it makes me
feel like crap.
WWE.com: How did this condition come about?
Hardcore Holly: Basically what happened was, the first
time I got the infection, I took antibiotics to get rid of it, and it went
away. Then it came back, and I just never had it taken care of properly. I
started getting the infection again the same week Eddie died in
Minneapolis. I was getting conflicting stories form the doctors. One doctor
told me to go home. Another doctor wanted to send me to the hospital, but
instead they sent me overseas to wrestle. And I have no problem with that.
That’s my job. But I didn’t realize the situation was as bad as
it was, and I got really sick while I was overseas. When I came home, I had
surgery on my elbow, and that’s when I found out the infection was in
my elbow, growing on the bone. And that’s why I’m having these
problems now. I thank Dr. Rios, because the night we landed overseas, he
got all the junk cleaned out of the infection to where I could work and
stand the pain a little bit. Then when I got back home, I said enough was
enough and I had to get this taken care of.
WWE.com: Why did you go in for the elbow surgery in the
first place?
Hardcore Holly: I went in because I had numbness in my
fingers. I had bone spurs and bone chips so bad in my elbow that it was
pinching the nerve. And I had put that off for a long time. With that
surgery is when everything got worse for me.
WWE.com: What would have happened if you didn’t go
in for the elbow surgery?
Hardcore Holly: I probably wouldn’t have an arm
right now or I’d be dead. The doctor told me I’m lucky to be
alive and lucky to have an arm. And that’s because it wasn’t
taken care of when it should have been. I didn’t know it was that
bad. It was painful and it made me sick, but I didn’t realize how
serious it was. Two weeks ago I woke up with a fever and thought I had the
flu. I got up and threw up, but didn’t think anything of it. But then
my arm swelled up like a balloon. I was sent straight to the hospital, and
that’s when they found out the infection was in my arm. We
won’t know for sure if they got all of it until I’m done with
the antibiotics, which will be another three weeks or so. And now I do
nothing except sit around hooked up to that stupid machine. It zaps all of
my energy because it’s so strong, and it doesn’t make you feel
really well. I can’t work out. I can’t do anything. I’ve
lost so much weight. But I’ll be back. I’ll come back like I
always have come back. This is just another hurdle. That’s all it is.
WWE.com: Before your arm swelled up again two weeks ago,
did you think the infection was gone?
Hardcore Holly: I knew something was wrong. I just knew
something wasn’t right. If it was taken care of the right way I
wouldn’t be having this problem. I don’t know if it was a
matter of miscommunication or what. I don’t know. I’m going to
do what I’m told to do. If I’m told to go somewhere to wrestle,
that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to dispute
anything because that’s what I’m paid to do. I’ve been
getting a lot of response from the fans, and I want to thank all of them.
And for the fans that don’t like me, they only know me from
television. If they were to meet me, they would see the kind of person I
really am. I’m a giving person. I give to charities and stuff like
that. It’s the fans choice if they don’t like me, but they
don’t need to say derogatory things because I’m sick. This
could be life-threatening. I also want to thank Vince for taking care of
me. I have the utmost respect for that man. Even though we’ve had our
differences and stuff like that, that man has always taken care of me. And
I won’t ever, ever forget it. I am grateful to him. I’m just
ready to get back to work. I’m frustrated. It’s depressing just
sitting around. At least when I broke my neck I could get out and do stuff.
Now, I’m hooked up to an IV and can’t leave the house.
WWE.com: What drives you in this fight, how do you try to
maintain a positive attitude?
Hardcore Holly: E-mails from fans and stuff like that have
fueled me. I’m not done yet. There’s still things I want to
accomplish. By no means am I finished yet. I’ll be back just as I was
before, if not better. When I came back from my broke neck I was better
than I was before, and with this, I’ll come back better again.
I’m not worried about that. It will be a little harder this time
because I haven’t been able to work out or do any cardio or do
anything. Nothing’s easy. It’s just a test to see how bad I
want it – how bad I want to come back. I belong in that ring.
WWE.com: Do you have a message for your fans out there
that are pulling for you?
Hardcore Holly: I just want to thank them for their
support. It has meant a lot to me and makes me want to come back even more.
I didn’t realize how many people out there really cared. There are a
lot of fans out there that do, and I really appreciate that. The fans are
my main motivation. When I come back I’ll do the best I can to
entertain them. And for the fans that don’t like me, I’ll do
the best I can to make them still hate me. I want to hurry up and come
back, but I can’t hurry up. It’s one of those things I have to
make sure that it’s gone before I really let loose. The drive is
there, and the passion is there more than it’s ever been. I’ve
got a lot to prove when I come back. I’m not through yet.
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