WWE Hall of Famer ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham battles for life in hospital: ‘Fighting so hard’
WWE Hall of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham continues to try to fight his way back to health and a return trip home in the Mayo Clinic, but the hurdles are still ominous, according to a post to his official Facebook page earlier this week.
His wife, Valerie Coleman, posted on Wednesday that her husband had developed chills, cough and nausea” and asked fans to “please pray for discernment for those caring for him.”
“He’s been fighting so hard and God has brought him through so much,” she wrote. “I know that our father will bring him through whatever this is.”
Graham has a long history of health issues, but this latest run began last month when his wife said he “coded” during a trip to the hospital and doctors had to resuscitate him. It has been a series of setbacks followed by Graham, whose real name is Eldridge Wayne Coleman, scrapping back to find some positive news.
Coleman posted earlier Wednesday that they were in the seventh week of the fight with “no idea when he will be strong enough to come home.”
She said he had lost more weight, and had an MRI scheduled to look at the infection bothering him.
“He’s just very tired which is understandable with all he’s been going through, but he’s remarkably determined to get better and get home!” she wrote. “It’s one day at a time and that’s enough.”
This comes a little more than a week after she reported that her husband’s health insurance will no longer cover his stay in a rehab center that will cost them $200 per day. They have a GoFundMe set up to try to help cover those costs.
During his days in the wrestling ring, Graham was known for his big personality, and was an inspiration for many big-name wrestlers — guys like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair — who followed in his footsteps.
He was a three-time heavyweight champion in major wrestling organizations, and was a 2004 inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame.