How long was Ben Askren in a coma? Former UFC star talks about his newfound faith in Christianity following recovery from health crisis

Former mixed martial artist Ben Askren was in a comatose state for 45 days. He also had to undergo a double lung transplant and suffered from cardiac arrest. In a video posted by the X account @HappyPunch, he said:

“There was multiple times when where they thought I was dead. Like I was dead. That’s the other side. And I woke up and I started as a Christian, so that’s crazy. You know I went with my wife to Church for 15 years cause that was part of the deal.”

In a video posted by Collin Rugg, he was asked how the episode changed him mentally and spiritually. Ben Askren said:

"I woke up and I [became] a Christian. I went with my wife to church for 15 years because that was part of the deal. I said, 'I'm not a Christian, but I'll support you.'" "And it was really weird. When I woke up, I'm like, 'I gotta do it.'"

In the video posted by Collin Rugg, the UFC star also expressed his gratitude to everyone who helped him during this phase. Askren said he received donations from many people, and some even looked after his kids. He mentioned that many of his friends spent time with him. As seen in the video posted by Rugg, Ben Askren said:

“So just so much gratitude for being for being around me and it’s kind of wild to me. I was always like, in my head, and I think this is true, I was a very controversial figure.”

He said he had both lovers and haters. However, he mentioned that he never had anything negative said to him since he could recall.

Ben Askren has no memory of what happened between May 28 and July 2

According to MMA News, Ben Askren had to be taken to the hospital after he had severe pneumonia, which was a result of a staph infection. After getting the double lung transplant, he was released from the hospital but was readmitted after a chest tube infection. Following his first hospital admission, he said:

“I haven’t given you an update in a while and figure you deserve one. Whenever this is all the way over. I just read through my wife’s journal because I don’t remember anything from May 28 to July 2. I have no recollection. No idea. No idea what happened. We’ll kind of go through it all. I just kind of read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous.”

On July 29, he shared a self-recorded video on Instagram saying he was no longer at home. During his first check-up, the doctors didn’t like how one of the tubes in his chest looked and thought it might be infected. So, they gave him some medicine and took a few X-rays to figure things out and fix the problem quickly.

In another video, Ben Askren thought about how he had never smoked a cigarette or used any dr*gs, and he felt confused and upset that he still had problems with his lungs. He wondered why it didn’t happen to someone who smoked.

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Also read: Ben Askren reflects on health battle and lung transplant in emotional hospital update

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