‘IN BAD SHAPE’

NFL Legend Bernie Kosar Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis, Liver Failure

“I went into the hospital and got a massive blood transfusion. It was like: ‘How are you alive?” he said.

Legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar is fighting for his life as he suffers from liver failure and Parkinson’s disease, according to Cleveland Magazine.

Kosar, 60, told the outlet that he was placed on a liver transplant list in late spring after being diagnosed with cirrhosis, and an independent NFL doctor diagnosed him with Parkinson’s disease in mid-February. He was an NFL quarterback for 12 years but told the magazine his body finally “gave out” on him during an event he hosted for the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football in December. 

“I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game. I sucked it up, though, and continued to avoid the doctors until the new year. Then, I went into the hospital and got a massive blood transfusion. It was like: ‘How are you alive? How are you moving? Because your hemoglobin levels are so low,” he said.

In January, doctors told Kosar that he would likely need a new liver, and shortly after, the quarterback was hospitalized for several days after taking a flight to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

Kosar’s hepatologist, Dr. Anthony Post, told Cleveland Magazine that Kosar was in dire straits at the start of the year but has since improved, which is not uncommon in liver disease patients.

“Liver disease does tend to fluctuate,” he said. “So he’s on that wave thing where it goes up and down. He’s in a good phase right now, but anything bad could happen.”

Indeed, Kosar said he had been in and out of the hospital receiving blood transfusions and getting fluids drained.

“I wish you could have seen me three months ago,’’ he said. “Actually, maybe not, because I looked like death. I felt like death. E. Coli blood poisoning. Heart trouble. And I really thought I needed the liver transplant ASAP. I was in bad shape.’’

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Anna Conkling

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