How UFC Star Ben Askren Cheated Death - #1116

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Welcome back to life, dude.

**Ben Askren** (0:05)
Well, I've been living again for quite a while now.
June 28th was actually the day I got to transplant last year, so coming up on a year for that. I believe I woke up on July 2nd or somewhere around there, or came to in my own mind. So yeah, it's their process, but I'm here, I'm getting better, and life's pretty good.

**Chris Williamson** (0:28)
So one year ago from now, you were really in the shit.

**Ben Askren** (0:31)
Well, I just made a post yesterday because on June 6th, which was two days ago, Saturday, I got inducted into the National Residence Hall of Fame. I went over home, or went back to the hotel with my wife. I said, didn't I get airlifted June 6th last year? So last year on June 6th, I was in Vegas and I went to the first hospital, second hospital, and then we got some friends that came out where one was a doctor and one was a nurse. And I said, he's not gonna make it to this hospital. We need to get him back to Milwaukee because they have a good, it's called CVICU, Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. And they got me a flight. They put me on a plane, took me all the way back. And I said to my wife, well, why was that such a bad day? Because I don't remember, I was sleeping. As she said, the transport made me they had to fully paralyze my body.
And then when I got back to Milwaukee, they put me on ECMO. And with ECMO, I think there's only a 40% chance you come off ECMO. Likely we'll go on it, don't come off it. So they were hoping I wouldn't have to do that. I did have to do that. So June 6th last year, although I don't remember any, it was quite eventful.

**Chris Williamson** (1:32)
And then this year you got to celebrate. So it's, you know, it's full circle. For the people who don't know what we're talking about, could you explain what's happened over the last 12 months?

**Ben Askren** (1:42)
Yeah, well, May 28th last year, 2025, I went to the hospital. I actually went to the hospital on the day before also, May 27th, my back was hurting. Just a bad back pain. I thought it was a back spasm. That was it, you know? And on May 27th, I tested, everything was normal. I did all the vitals and I told my wife, see, I told you, it was just a back spasm. And the doctor gave me medicine for a back spasm. And I went back to the hotel. We were at the Bitcoin conference. And it got worse. And the medicine did not work at all, which has never happened. I had a handful of other back spasms in my life and the medicine was really good. It just got worse and worse and worse. And then I was up most of the night trying to make it feel better.
And when I woke up in the morning, so sometime in the middle of the night, I'd finally fall asleep. When I woke up in the morning, it was a little bit later, and she had been videotaping me sleeping. And she had sent it to a few of her doctor friends and they said you need to get him to the hospital as soon as you can.
So when I woke up...

**Chris Williamson** (2:42)
What was happening while you were sleeping?

**Ben Askren** (2:44)
I was like super fast and hard breathing.
And so when I woke up, my mom was like, hey, we're going to the hospital. I said, dude, you make me go to the hospital. She said, I'm not going back to the hospital, damn it. I got stuff I want to do today. I don't want to go to the hospital. And she's like, no, you got to go to the hospital. So eventually they convinced me to go to the hospital. And it was the same place as the day before. We went there and I remember walking in the waiting room and then that's it. I don't remember anything. I woke up in July 2nd. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know why I was there. I don't remember anything. I was asleep for, I want to say, I think it was 37 days, I believe.

**Chris Williamson** (3:24)
So you transported from kind of being a bit irritated that you were back at the same hospital for what you thought might be a back spasm for the second time and your wife being a little bit overbearing.