{"id":130467,"date":"2025-06-14T23:38:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T23:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130467\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T23:38:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T23:38:18","slug":"barry-sanders-opens-up-on-harrowing-health-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130467\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry Sanders opens up on harrowing health scare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry Sanders is sharing it all this June with the hope of inspiring his fans in a different way.<\/p>\n

A year ago, the Hall of Famer announced he suffered a \u201chealth scare related to his heart,\u201d<\/a> and he recently shared in a CBS interview that it was a heart attack while attending a recruiting visit for his son.<\/p>\n

Sanders will be sharing more about the past year publicly in a documentary, \u201cThe Marking of a Heart Attack\u201d, that will premiere on June 14 at 1 p.m. on A&E.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it, honestly,\u201d Sanders shared in the documentary, per CBS. \u201cI thought it was like heartburn, but it just kind of persisted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On that morning last June, Sanders said that he could feel a burning sensation in his chest. Following an early exit from the recruiting visit, the Lions legend drove himself to the emergency room, where tests revealed that his enzyme levels were \u201creally high and getting higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry Sanders at the 14th Annual NFL Honors held at Saenger Theatre on February 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Variety via Getty Images<\/p>\n

From there, Sanders underwent a heart catheter procedure, which revealed he had suffered a heart attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf all things, I don\u2019t know why, that just never entered my mind,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI\u2019m learning through this process that there aren\u2019t necessarily any warning signs, unless you do what we\u2019re encouraging people to do, which is to go the doctor, get tested for LDLC levels, or bad cholesterol. That\u2019s the only way to find out if you have high cholesterol. It\u2019s not something you\u2019re going to be able to feel. You don\u2019t have to fit a certain physical profile.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the documentary, Sanders wants to encourage people to get ahead of this. <\/p>\n

Sanders, along with four others who have experienced a heart attack or stroke, uncover the hidden risks and impacts to be aware of in the documentary.<\/p>\n

Former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders attends a ceremony honoring former wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. (\u201cMegatron\u201d) being inducted into the Pride of the Lions during a game between the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit, Michigan USA, on Monday, September 30, 2024. NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A preventative measure Sanders pushes is visiting attackheartdisease.com\/test<\/a> because he can only share his story, while everyone\u2019s heart health is vastly different.<\/p>\n

He has said his health has greatly improved since the incident from walking more, making dietary changes and taking his medications.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s hereditary and it\u2019s not like you\u2019re doing anything wrong,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different stories and examples out there. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for people to have that conversation with their doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former NFL player Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions reacts during the first half between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs at Ford Field on January 14, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really been an education, for me, learning about how frequent this happens all over the U.S.,\u201d he added. \u201cConversing with these other individuals who are part of this documentary who have very insightful, gripping stories about the journey that they\u2019ve been on. It\u2019s just really amazing. I think it will get a lot of people\u2019s attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barry Sanders is sharing it all this June with the hope of inspiring his fans in a different…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[10401,113,7,31203,6,9,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-130467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-barry-sanders","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-heart-attacks","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-sports-entertainment"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114684356751449307","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}