Chris Jericho On Being Freaked Out During Health Scare Last Year, How Quickly It Came On

Chris Jericho ended up hospitalized late last year over a health scare, and he recently spoke more about exactly what happened. Jericho was hospitalized in December of 2021 while in the UK on tour with Fozzy with what at the time was described as a “non COVID-related, treatable health issue.” He later revealed that it was a pulmonary embolism.

On the latest episode of Howie Mandel Does Stuff, Jericho talked about the issue and how freaked out he got while he was being treated for it, how quickly it came on and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On what it felt like: “Couldn’t breathe. Like literally, I was on stage with Fozzy and I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t catch my breath. And I was like, ‘This is weird.’ And I started hearing a blood clot, because I talked to a couple doctors that I knew here. And lo and behold, I had a day off in London, went got some blood tests and they said, ‘You gotta go right to the hospital, you got you’ve got blood clots. Pulmonary embolism.’ Which I mean, people die from that.”

“Right away, you got to start getting blood thinners. And they bring this freaking needle and they stick it right in your thigh and it’s like, ‘Ahh!’ The blood thinner’s got to get in there right away to start tearing them apart, essentially. So that was the first thing, and then the oxygen level was really bad, because you can’t breathe. And that’s something I think during COVID time, everyone was checking their oxygen levels, it was supposed to be at like 99 or 100? Mine was like down at like 92. I couldn’t walk from here to that couch without being like [panting].

On how quickly the embolism came on: “It was quick. It was quick that [it] got to that point. So at the beginning of the tour, the first three shows were great. Fourth one I started feeling weird, and I lasted about another three days after that before I went to the hospital. So it hit very quick. [The] onslaught was like, ‘boom!’ And that’s how people die from it because you don’t know. No one knows if you have blood clots, how are you supposed to know that? I had no symptoms or anything, it was just a normal guy, normal day and suddenly I can’t breathe. So it was really kind of like, when you hear that people die of these you can understand how because you don’t know.”

On being freaked out over it while it was happening: “When you’re in the hospital at any time it’s kind of scary, because you never know, like ‘Oh, what if,’ right? When you’re in the hospital and this is once again, during COVID times, so the level starts going down, and then they put the the oxygen in your nose. And I’m like, ‘The next step is the intubation, the freaking ventilator.’ And then you start freaking out. And I was like, ‘I’m not getting in a wheelchair to go to any of these tests, I’m not putting on this gown.’ ‘You got to put on the gown.’ ‘No I don’t.’ ‘You gotta get this wheelchair. ‘No, I’m walking. I’m walking where I need to go.’ I was scared. Everything that would like, if I get into a wheelchair and put the hospital thing on, that’s one step closer to in my head never getting out… I just didn’t want to accept the hospital gown. All of it was just in my head, like ‘What if I never get out of here,’ you know? ‘What if I don’t get out of here,’ and you start thinking that way. It’s freaky.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Howie Mandel Does Stuff with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.