BARRY Sanders has revealed he suffered a terrifying health scare.
The legendary NFL running back had a heart attack last June.
Barry Sanders revealed that he suffered a heart attack last year[/caption]
Sanders is considered by many to be the greatest running back of all time[/caption]
The Hall of Fame Detroit Lions player publicly announced the health scare when it happened, but only detailed it as heart-related.
However, he further revealed that his “health scare” was a heart attack.
“I couldn’t believe it, honestly,” Sanders said in The Making of a Heart Attack.
“I thought it was like heartburn, but it just kind of persisted.”
Sanders explained that he woke up with a burning feeling in his chest on the day of his heart attack.
He was on a recruiting visit with his son and decided to leave the visit early and go to the emergency room.
It was there that he learned his enzyme levels were “really high and getting higher.”
Sanders then got a heart catheter procedure, which revealed he had a heart attack.
“Of all things, I don’t know why, that just never entered my mind,” Sanders told CBS.
“I’m learning through this process that there aren’t necessarily any warning signs, unless you do what we’re encouraging people to do, which is to go the doctor, get tested for LDLC levels, or bad cholesterol.
“That’s the only way to find out if you have high cholesterol. It’s not something you’re going to be able to feel.
“You don’t have to fit a certain physical profile.”
Sanders shares more about his experience in his upcoming documentary while sitting down with four others who suffered from heart attacks or strokes.
“It’s really been an education, for me, learning about how frequent this happens all over the US,” Sanders said.
“Conversing with these other individuals who are part of this documentary who have very insightful, gripping stories about the journey that they’ve been on.
“It’s just really amazing. I think it will get a lot of people’s attention.”
NFL important dates 2025 season
March 12 – Free Agency begins
April 24-26 – NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin
September 4 – 2025 season opener (TBC vs Eagles)
November 27 – Thanksgiving Day triple header
January 4, 2026 – End of regular-season
February 8, 2026 – Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California
It has been a year since Sanders’ heart attack, and thanks to medications, dieting, and exercise, his health has improved.
“It’s definitely made me healthier and happier,” Sanders said.
“Being the kind of athlete that I was, I would see people walking and I would wonder, like, ‘What kind of workout is that?’
“But there’s a thing called a heart healthy workout, where you’re just getting your heart rate up a little bit over a certain period of time, and that’s just really good for your heart.
“There was just a certain ignorance that I had about things like that. But all of it has been a learning process.”
Sanders is encouraging people to visit attackheartdisease.com/test to make sure their hearts are healthy.
