While most would assume that fitness instructors are among the last people on Earth to ever have health issues, one ended up in a coma after a shocking episode of a stroke earlier this month.
JZ Fitness, also known as “Muscle Dad,” is a popular bodybuilder and fitness instructor from Taiwan who now sits on a wheelchair as he recovers from the incident that messed up his family’s plans for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On Sept. 13, his wife, JZ Mum, also known as “Muscle Mum,” shared the heartbreaking story on Facebook to more than 200,000 followers. According to her, it happened on what she thought was an ordinary morning, just after sending their son to school.
“Fortunately, I haven’t gone out yet,” wrote JZ Mum, who found her husband on the floor. “I found him there and managed to send him to the hospital in time.”
She struggled to recall details in the emergency room as she juggled communicating with doctors, worrying for her husband and informing their family. She remembered helping him get a brain scan.
“I even forgot how I managed to get home at the time,” she added. “It’s hard to accept that in just a moment, my husband, who accompanied me on vacation last week, is now fighting for his life in bed.”
JZ Mum learned that her husband suffered from brain embolism, a condition in which certain material — usually a blood clot — forms and travels along an artery supplying blood to the brain.
Because the clot blocks blood supply, the brain fails to receive sufficient oxygen, which leads to a stroke — or death of brain cells — and the consequent loss of consciousness.
After a week in the intensive care unit, JZ Fitness was transferred to the normal ward, but he still remained in a coma. His case naturally puzzled doctors, who rarely encounter a man looking so healthy suffering from a stroke.
After reviewing his medical history, they learned that JZ Fitness had a hypercoagulation problem from his mother’s side. This means they have excessive blood clotting.
JZ Mum said that her mother-in-law takes medication to control the problem. It was also revealed that two of her husband’s relatives already suffered from a stroke, with one of them being in his 20s.
Aside from his genetic predisposition, JZ Fitness also lacked sleep. Apparently, he only had around three hours of sleep most nights.
“He would often sleep late, around 3 a.m. while he was rushing his work, and then wake up at 6 a.m. During the day he would take naps, but he usually had less than six hours of sleep a day,” JZ Mum recalled.
JZ Fitness has since woken up from his coma. He is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, a process accelerated by his already-fit physique prior to the stroke.
JZ Mum concluded her post sharing that her family has learned their lesson.
“We will now start to sleep at 9 in the evening and get up early in the morning,” she vowed. “Fans will see us more healthy and full of energy.”
