It’s no secret that Chuck Norris is the toughest among tough guys. He’s a martial arts guru and actor, known for starring in the hit ‘90s TV show Walker, Texas Ranger and movies like Way of the Dragon alongside Bruce Lee.
Jokes about Chuck Norris’ manliness have become somewhat of a pop culture sensation. It is said, for example, that he was bitten by a cobra once. After five days of excruciating pain… the cobra died. Others say that, when Chuck Norris swims in the ocean, sharks swim in a steel cage. Legend also has it that Chuck Norris once climbed Mount Everest… by accident. You get the point.
It’s hard to imagine anything that would make Chuck Norris feel helpless, but when his wife experienced recent medical complications, the star was unsure of what to do, and felt that he was helplessly watching her die.
Chuck Norris’ wife, Gena Norris, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Together they decided that Gena would get a series of MRIs in 2013 to gain a better understanding of her rheumatoid arthritis. However, that was only the start of more severe complications.
In a recent interview on Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, Gena reported:
“I was in the emergency room for like five or six nights in a row, and the symptoms had continued to get worse and worse. And by the fourth, fifth, sixth night, the burning just kept traveling and I would go in and they’d say, ‘Well what’s wrong with you?’ And I’m like ‘I, I don’t know. I don’t feel good. And I’m just, I’m burning. All I can tell you is I’m burning all over. I feel like I have acid everywhere in my tissues, I’m just, I’m on fire.’”
Chuck Norris felt that he was witnessing his wife dying. He said:
“Well I saw death in her eyes. I saw her dying and I said, you know, I’ve got to do something. [I]t’s the helpless feeling, you know, ‘cause I’m kind of a take charge guy, and then here I have something where I cannot do anything and it was, it was horrifying …”
This time, the pain culprit was not her rheumatoid arthritis. Chuck and Gena believe that the cause of her excruciating pain was gadolinium, a chemical agent that was injected into Gena’s body prior to the MRI. To this day Gena still doesn’t feel like the same person that she was before she got sick.
While the FDA claims that there is no evidence that gadolinium is likely to cause severe complications, the Norrises disagree. However, Gena is finally feeling a lot better, and Chuck is relieved. “I got my wife back,” he said.
Visit Full Measure for more information on the full interview with the Norrises.
