NFL legend Chris Johnson, father of 4, reveals devastating diagnosis: 'I can't even hold a cup'



Three-time NFL Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson revealed some horrific news in a TV segment that aired Monday morning.

The 40-year-old explained that what began as weakness in his right hand turned out to be a life-threatening illness.

'I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family.'

Johnson and his wife, Brittany, figured he had some sort of lingering ailments from his NFL career that were popping up, so the former Tennessee Titans star went in for tests.

"I first noticed weakness in my right hand," Johnson said. "At first, it was little things like my grip didn't feel right, and I wasn't as strong as I've always been."

Johnson told "Good Morning America" that after thorough testing, "They finally came down with a diagnosis of ALS," or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease.

The Orlando, Florida, native said he was told about a medication that might extend life by a few months, but that it was time to prepare for the worst.

"Then they told us to get our affairs in order. It was hard hearing that," Johnson told host Michael Strahan, who is an NFL Hall of Fame player.

In fact, Johnson's words to Strahan came through a voice program that he controls with his eyes. Johnson recorded his voice shortly after his diagnosis, and therefore the text-to-speech audio sounds like him.

However, losing his voice is just one of the physical results of his illness.

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- YouTube

"I can't even hold a cup if I try, and that's despite being diagnosed relatively early and doing everything we can, including participating in multiple experimental treatments," Johnson said.

The former East Carolina athlete urged early detection, more research, and enhanced treatments to give people a better chance than what he has available to him.

As for his wife, she told the ABC program that she thought what Johnson was going through was the result of years of clashes on the football field. Johnson retired in 2017.

"I thought because of football and, you know, his career, that it had to be something with that," she told Strahan. "Maybe a pinched nerve or something along those lines, but never ALS."

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Strahan asked several questions pertaining to how much their life has changed, and Johnson explained that he wants to continue his fight simply to "make more memories" with his kids and "just be their dad."

"At first, you're in shock. Then you realize you have two choices: You can give up, or you can fight. I chose to fight," the father stated.

Despite losing his voice, Johnson said he wanted viewers to know that the illness hasn't changed how his mind works.

"People sometimes look at the physical disability and assume you're not still the same person inside. I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn't cooperate."

Johnson had a total of 9,651 rushing yards and 55 rushing touchdowns in 10 years in the NFL. He still holds one of the fastest 40-yard dash times in NFL Combine history.

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A Colombian woman diagnosed with ALS was slated to die by euthanasia despite not having a terminal prognosis, but the fatal procedure was canceled



Martha Sepúlveda, a 51-year-old Colombian woman diagnosed with ALS, had been slated to become the first individual in that country without a terminal prognosis to die via legally permitted euthanasia. But the procedure planned for 7 a.m. Sunday Oct. 10 was canceled after a medical committee decided that she no longer satisfied the requirements because her health had apparently improved, according to The Washington Post.

Until this year, euthanasia had been legally available in the country to individuals with a life expectancy of half a year or less, according to the Post.

The outlet also noted that while ALS is a deadly disease without a cure, it advances at different rates and people can live for years or even decades.

According to the Post, Colombia's constitutional court ruled earlier this year that the choice of euthanasia applies not just to the terminally ill, but also to individuals experiencing "intense physical or mental suffering from bodily injury or serious and incurable disease."

A committee of the Colombian Pain Institute (Incodol) said in a statement that they were calling off the planned euthanasia, saying that the woman's case "does not meet the termination criteria," according to a report.

Camila Jaramillo is a lawyer for Sepúlveda, and Jaramillo's law firm, the Laboratory of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, has pledged to push back against the decision, according to the Post.

Here's more from the Post:

The Colombian Institute of Pain, or Incodol, which had been scheduled to carry out the procedure on Sunday, said Sepúlveda's condition had improved between July and October, and that affected an earlier decision to allow her euthanasia procedure to proceed.

After discussing the case at length, the committee found no evidence meeting the requirements of degenerative, progressive and incurable illness, according to an explanation from the committee that was provided to The Washington Post by Jaramillo. Sepúlveda's illness "does not completely affect the functionality of the patient in instrumental activities or daily life as the patient and her family had expressed in previous medical records."

Determining that Sepúlveda "has a high probability of expecting a life of more than 6 months," the committee ruled that she wasn't eligible for euthanasia.

Responding to the news that the woman's planned euthanasia had been nixed, the Colombian health ministry said that an individual who does not have a terminal diagnosis cannot be cleared for euthanasia because the constitutional court has not put out its full ruling on the issue, according to the Post.

Legal experts pushed back against this, saying that court rulings take effect immediately, the Post said.

'Promoting a culture of death': Woman with ALS slated to die by euthanasia in Colombia on Sunday despite not having terminal prognosis



Martha Sepúlveda, a 51-year-old Colombian woman suffering from ALS, plans to become the first individual in that country without a terminal prognosis to die via legally permitted euthanasia, according to The Washington Post.

Until this year the nation had just permitted euthanasia for individuals with a life expectancy of half a year or less, according to the outlet.

Although ALS is a deadly disease with no known cure, people who have it can live anywhere from two years to a decade or even more, the Post reported.

In the months after Sepúlveda got diagnosed she lost control over the muscles in her legs. "What happens once I can no longer get into bed or use the bathroom without help?" Sepúlveda would ask her son, according to the outlet. "How far am I going to go?"

"From the spiritual level, I am totally calm," Sepúlveda, who identifies as "a Catholic person, very believing," said during an interview with the Colombian television network Noticias Caracol, according to a report, which linked to the Spanish-language interview.

"I need my mother, I want her with me, almost in any condition, but I know that in her words she no longer lives, she survives," the woman's only child, Federico Redondo Sepúlveda, reportedly told Noticias Caracol.

According to the Post, the nation's constitutional court ruled this year that euthanasia, which had already been available in the country, applies not just to the terminally ill, but also extends to individuals with "intense physical or mental suffering from bodily injury or serious and incurable disease."

Last year, lawyers lodged a suit requesting for the constitutional court to allow those with non-terminal diagnoses to die via euthanasia, according to the Post. The court indicated that euthanasia should be available for people with "intense physical and mental suffering."

"It opens up the possibility for people who are depressed or simply don't want to live anymore," noted Sen. María del Rosario Guerra, who belongs to the Democratic Center party of President Iván Duque, according to the Post. "We are promoting a culture of death."

Sepúlveda is planning to die at 7 a.m. Sunday.