By Mallory Mattingly
In a YouTube livestream over the weekend, Deion Sanders’ son revealed his dad’s battle with an unspecified health issues that has kept him from preparing for the upcoming season with Colorado.
According to USA Today, Coach Prime has a blood circulation problem in his arteries, “which carry blood away from the heart, as opposed to his veins, which carry it back.”
Robert Brodsky, president of the American Society of Hematology and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, explained Sanders’ health concerns.
“Any time you’re losing circulation, it’s very serious,” he said. “The arteries take oxygenated blood from the heart and deliver it to the tissues, so if the conduit to get to the tissue is blocked, you lose the blood supply, and that portion below where that clot is will die from not getting enough oxygen.”
“He’ll tell y’all soon enough what he’s going through, what he went through,” Sanders’ son, Deion Jr., said on the livestream, per PEOPLE. “When we get back to Boulder, I don’t know. I’m waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I’ll go. Until then, I’m going to sit here with him.”
After his son’s announcment, Sanders said: “Wow, I am truly blessed for the abundance of well wishes, for all the thoughts and all of the prayers. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I can assure you all that everything is OKAY and will continue to be so. God got me like no other. I have so much more work to do to Glorify God so please believe God got me!”
Sanders has struggled with health issues in the past.
In 2021, he had parts of his left calf cut out and two toes amputated. Two years later, doctors removed a “‘really bad’ blood clot in his thigh, along with a number of smaller clots below the knee.”
“I don’t have feeling in the bottom of my foot at all,” Sanders said on Thee Pregame in 2023. “I just want to know what we could do because I want to do it this summer. When we get rolling, I’m not gonna have time to do it.”
So, what’s the prognosis for the Colorado State head coach?
“The fact that they’re having to continue to do it and move up the leg says that the problem is still going on,” Brodsky told USA Today of Sanders case. “It’s not acutely life-threatening, these things, but what happens with these is sometimes it just keeps progressing up the leg.”
Sanders was scheduled to speak at the Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease Annual Symposium. However, he was unable to attend.
Related: Deion Sanders Promises to ‘Talk Life Into’ Fans With New Talk Show
The foundation wrote on X, “…Due to an unavoidable last-minute scheduling change, our originally scheduled Foundation Keynote Speaker, Deion Sanders ‘Coach Prime,’ is unable to attend. We are grateful for his support and look forward to future opportunities to welcome him.”
It’s unclear if his cancelation was due to his health issues.
But while his health issues are keeping him away from coaching, Sanders continues to share his positive outlook on life on Instagram.
“Let’s walk the walk!” he wrote alongside a picture of him out on a walk. “I’m so thankful for the little things that we sometimes take for granted.”
With his history of blood clots, many people assume he is dealing with a similar issue. Please pray for Sanders as he deals with his ongoing health concern.
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