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Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat is heading to his first Super Bowl this Sunday after suffering a near-death experience last year.
The 25-year-old suffered a ruptured arterial while at home days before Philadelphia’s wild-card round loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during last year’s NFL playoffs.
Sweat woke up feeling dizzy and sweaty earlier in the week. He immediately knew something was wrong and called the team doctor.
“My abdomen felt heavy from all the blood that was spilling there,” Sweat said. the new york post office‘but I didn’t know what was going on.
He asked me what was wrong and I said, “I think I’m dying.” He thought he was joking. He said, “But you’ve got Tom Brady this weekend.” ‘
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat heads to his first Super Bowl this Sunday
Just a year ago, the 25-year-old suffered a ruptured artery and had an emergency procedure.
But instead of preparing to face the Bucs, Sweat took an Uber to the hospital for an emergency procedure.
‘It wasn’t that scary for me because I called [the team doctor]I was like “Just take me there, let me find out what’s going on”, and then they called me, but I was already in the hospital at that point when I found out how serious it was.
His mother, Carlette, made the five-hour drive to Chesapeake, Virginia, to be with her son, revealing that he had told her he was “dizzy” and had “lost his sight” for a few minutes.
“The scary part was when they said how much blood was in my stomach,” he said. “They said that if she had fallen asleep, she would never have woken up again, and Josh loves to sleep.”
The sweat was transported to the Penn trauma center for an emergency procedure to cauterize the artery. Then they held him overnight and his mother was able to see him the next day.
Understandably, the Eagles’ medical staff did not allow Sweat to play in the playoff game against Tampa Bay, but he was allowed to play in the Pro Bowl a few weeks later.
Carlette revealed that the doctors never found out how the rupture had occurred.
But it wasn’t Sweat’s first brush with a medical situation throughout his football career.
Just two weeks before he suffered a ruptured artery, Sweat had been ejected during the Eagles’ Week 17 game against the New Orleans Saints.
It was not Sweat’s first brush with a medical situation throughout his football career.
During last year’s Week 17 loss to the Saints, the defensive end was carried off the field on a stretcher.
He was stretchered off the field during Philadelphia’s 20-10 loss after attempting a tackle, but luckily it turned out to be just a stinger and nothing more serious.
He also nearly had his left leg amputated in high school in 2014 after breaking it “in half.”
It was a dislocated left knee, but Sweat remembered the chilling words the doctor said to him as he put him to sleep.
“We’ll do the test to see if you damaged the artery, so you may have to lose it, since he was already pumping the anesthetic into me,” Sweat said, “so by the time I could have talked.”**, ya I was going to sleep.
So, I thought I was going to wake up without my leg.
Sweat became a fourth-round pick in 2018 out of Florida State and enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, totaling 11 sacks.
He was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft out of Florida State and had 11 sacks in 2022.
After cheating death just a year ago, Sweat will now go after Patrick Mahomes in Arizona in search of his first Super Bowl ring.
“Football has a different meaning to me now, especially when I almost lost everything,” Sweat said.
“I was one of the best recruits and all that, so I want to go back home to where I was, be one of the best at what I do. I have an opportunity to put myself back in there because I’m so underrated, so this is an opportunity for me to make it happen and help make something special.
The Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Arizona in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.