Ben Askren Makes 30-Day Prayer Pact Public as Wife’s Plea Lifts Spirits Amid Health Recovery

Things were looking pretty dark for Ben Askren in late May 2025. ‘Funky’ was hospitalized for severe pneumonia and was unresponsive. He was put under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a life support system for people with severe cardiac or respiratory issues. Later on, his pneumonia worsened, and he required a lung transplant. Thankfully, he received the transplant and woke up from his long slumber with a message for the world. And his efforts to get his life back were highlighted by a music video on his Instagram profile. 

Taking to Instagram, the former ONE Championship title holder shared a video showing his friend, Cody Crocker, singing a song written by Askren’s second daughter. In the caption, Askren wrote, “So my wife had many people send videos while I’ve been in the hospital to try to cheer me up.  This one was written by my nine year-old and is sung by my friend Cody Crocker.” 

At the end of the caption, ‘Funky’ asked his fans for a title for the song. Even Crocker left it out for the audience to decide. Amy Askren was also grateful for the video. She shared her husband’s post on her Instagram Story and wrote, “Andi’s song writing debut 😂Thanks Cody!!”

In another IG Story, Amy revealed that a spiritual group has been praying for the former Bellator champion’s speedy recovery for a month now. Fellowship of Christian Athletes Wrestling PNW carried out prayers on Zoom meetings at 9 pm ET, 8 pm CT, and 6 pm PT. Thanking the group for the support, Amy Askren wrote, “There has been a group praying for Ben every single night at 8 central for 30 days so far… so so incredible ♥️.”

The entire world was delighted to see Ben Askren being able to talk and giving us a health update on social media. After all, we’ve all been waiting for his recovery for a long time. Let’s see what ‘Funky’ had to say to his fanbase after he woke up. 

Ben Askren had a message as he finally woke up following a successful double lung transplant

In the video on social media, Ben Askren can be heard saying, “Whenever this is all the way over, I actually just read through my wife’s journal ’cause I don’t remember anything from May 28th to July 2. No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened. We’ll kind of go through it all. I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous. So, I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.” 

Apart from his memory, Askren also lost a significant amount of weight. Being on life support is always associated with fluid (parenteral) nutrition. And this often leads to weakness and weight loss. When he got on the scales, Askren weighed 147 pounds – about 50 pounds lighter than before. But now, he’s on the way to complete recovery. In the end, he thanked the fans for all the support they provided. He said, “It was almost like I got to have my own funeral. … The outpouring of love from the wrestling community was just amazing. It felt so good.”

Askren will likely need a couple of weeks to get discharged from the hospital. Till then, he must regain his strength through rehabilitation exercises. Can he return to the mats after this? Likely not in full capacity. But that doesn’t matter. For now, let’s join hands and wish the fighter a speedy recovery as he enjoys his daughter’s lyrics.