Giants’ Super Bowl champ details his near-death experience: ‘I was in a coma’
The former Giants player survived a life-threatening medical emergency, prompting him to change his perspective about life.
Former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora had to be resuscitated after emergency surgery left him in a coma — and doctors told his family they didn’t know if he would survive. Appearing on the “NFL Players: Second Acts” podcast, Umenyiora explained his medical issues began because of scar tissue buildup from an appendectomy performed in Nigeria, his home country, when he was younger. The scar tissue had become intertwined with his intestine.
His condition took a turn an hour after a television appearance in London when Umenyiora said he began to feel ill when he returned home. “I was just delirious,” said Umenyiora, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants. “I was in complete shock.
I was throwing up everywhere. It was really bad. I got rushed to the hospital.
In the hospital, they ran their tests and then they were like, ‘OK, we’re going to have this emergency surgery. ’” Umenyiora said he did not initially wake up after the operation. “They opened me up and that’s when they found what was going on,” Umenyiora said.