Veteran actor and comedian Tom Arnold is on the mend, requiring a walker to get around after a harrowing fall.
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On the Aug. 11 episode of the Lisa Guerrero Unleashed podcast, the 67-year-old True Lies star arrived using a walker. Deep into the episode, Guerrero asked Arnold about the walker, and the Soul Plane was happy to explain.
During his 75-city comedy tour, Arnold took a spill in a hotel bathroom in Iowa City.
The comedian recalled that he “fell backwards on the floor, and I couldn’t get up. I tried for four hours; it was so friggin’ painful that when my buddies and my family found me.”
Though he wanted to push forward, Arnold revealed he had to have emergency surgery.
“The number three [vertebra in the lower back] was down by the tailbone. I fell. I smashed it. It was in shards and almost pierced my spinal cord, so they had to get in there,” he explained.
While Arnold was at first confined to a wheelchair, rigorous physical therapy helped him get out and about in a walker and continue his tour.
“My physical therapist now was the Lakers’ head trainer for 11 years. He is so tough. But he knows what he’s doing. He rehabbed Kobe for his Achilles,” Arnold explained.
Tom Arnold is Gearing Up For Another Major Medical Procedure
Meanwhile, Arnold revealed he’s gearing up for yet another medical procedure.
“So now they had to do an ultrasound of getting ready to have a heart surgery, a small valve replacement, aortic valve,” Arnold told Guerrero.
That said, he’s not sweating the ticker tune-up too much. He noted that, unlike his pal Arnold Schwarzenegger, doctors won’t have to crack open his chest for the procedure.
“They had to saw [Schwarzenegger’s] chest in half, but it’s progressed. So it’s one night in the hospital, maybe two,” Arnold reasoned.
The Big Bully star didn’t reveal when he’s set to have the heart procedure. However, that didn’t stop fans from wishing him well in the comments section on Guerrero’s Instagram post about the episode.
“Sending good vibes for a great recovery ❤️🩹 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻,” one fan wrote.
“I love Tom Arnold. As someone who has had a heart attack and four stents and now dealing with cancer, I can relate. If he needs to talk to someone, I am available at any time,” another thoughtful fan wrote.
“Prayers up to Tom 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾,” a third fan added.