WWE Legend Lex Luger Describes Being Paralyzed

After a long process, future WWE Hall of Famer Lex Luger has found himself able to stand up and walk short distances, a miracle after he suffered a spinal infarction in 2007 that briefly left him a quadriplegic, and has largely confined him to a wheelchair since. Perhaps it's due to all the progress he's made that Luger is now more than willing to go through the details that October 2007 evening that changed his life forever.

Speaking with "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Luger talked about being in San Francisco for a convention, when he noticed something wasn't quite right. Even still, he didn't immediately think there was significant cause for concern.

"I turned my head back to the front, and I had this burning stabbing pain between my shoulder blades," Luger said. "But you know; football, wrestling, we get aches and pains, little pinched nerves all the time. So...I go 'Man, that didn't feel good...that didn't feel right.' I got to the hotel. I checked in. And I woke up...I'm not sure what time it was. It was just pre-dawn. And I had the worst burning stabbing pain in my lower neck/shoulder blade area. Unbelievable. 

"And it was so bad...I'm a side sleeper. I was on my side towards the night stand. And I was trying to get to a phone. And so I figured 'Maybe I get to the phone like a seal. Hit it with my nose.' I was in so much pain. I fell off the bed and down to the floor."

Besides the pain, Luger described feeling like he was being pulled through his bed and the floor by magnets, and along with feeling as though he was stuck in a metal diver suit. Things worsened after he fell off the bed and found himself unable to move and his chin down to his chest, which compromised his breathing, and led Luger to believe that he was on the verge of death.

"I thought I was going to suffocate," Luger said. "So now I'm up against the nightstand, can't move, feel like I'm being pulled by magnets through the floor now, and I'm suffocating. I thought that was it. And I tell people this...the Lord came into that room man. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. I was a brand new believer. I didn't even know I had a verse memorized in the Bible, but Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not upon your own understanding. Acknowledge Me in all your ways, and I'll make your path straight.' It was so calming, when I felt like God was actually almost speaking to me. I didn't hear a voice or anything. But that resonated so much with me that my breathing calmed down and my heart rate."

Even after calming his breathing, Luger was forced to wait several more hours before help arrived, which occurred after he failed to answer the door, and 911 was called to force their way into the room. As the medics attempted to help Luger, he noticed that a familiar face, one that was also in town for the convention Luger was scheduled to appear in, was on the scene to make sure he was okay.

"DDP comes into the room," Luger said. "And he convinces me...I wanted the medics, they had picked me up off the floor and sat me in a chair in the hotel room. I'm like...'I'm okay. I think I'm dehydrated maybe.' And D looks at me and goes 'Look, you've got to go with these guys man. This ain't dehydration bro. This ain't effing hydration. You need to go with these guys.'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription