Ronnie Coleman Caught on Camera in Heartbreaking Situation After 13+ Surgeries

Ronnie Coleman has always been larger than life. Eight-time Mr. Olympia, the man fans still call “The King,” and a powerhouse who ruled bodybuilding through the late ’90s and early 2000s. Even after hanging up the competition trunks, Coleman never stopped training, never stopped pushing. But earlier this summer, the unshakable giant faced something no amount of heavy lifting could prepare him for-a sudden health scare that left him battling sepsis and undergoing a heart procedure.

Coleman’s family revealed that doctors had moved him to a specialized facility for round-the-clock care. His condition, they admitted, was complicated, but there were small rays of hope. And if anyone was built for a fight like this, it’s Ronnie. For decades, fans have watched him power through pain and push past limits, and now, that same relentless resilience is carrying him through the toughest stage of his life. And finally, he recovered. Still, the reality of his battle hit home when a video surfaced online.

The same man once celebrated for freakish strength and colossal muscle now needed help just to walk up stairs. Recently, Raghu shared a post on X featuring a video of Ronnie Coleman unable to walk unassisted. The video began by showing his legendary biceps and triceps from his prime, then contrasted them with his current struggles, where he needed assistance to walk. And it’s not his recent health condition that makes it worse. It is years of extreme training have caused 13+ surgeries.

Despite these challenges, Ronnie Coleman continues training with lighter weights and rehabilitation exercises, and he described his battle with sepsis as “one of the toughest fights of my life.”  Seeing the once-unstoppable force slowed down this way was sobering.  And yet, Coleman refuses to let the story end there. He still trains, still shows up, swapping iron-crushing weights for lighter, rehabilitative movements.

The unbroken spirit of Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Coleman has endured more than 13 major surgeries over his career: eight on his back, three on his neck, and three on his hips. “Every surgery I do takes a little bit of strength away from me,” Coleman admitted. “I’m getting weaker and weaker. The more surgeries I do, the weaker I got.” His surgical journey began with a laminectomy on his L4-L5 discs in 2007, followed by disc decompression and neck fusion in 2011, left and right hip replacements in 2014, another spinal fusion in 2015, and a second double hip replacement in 2020.

By 2018, he revealed frustration with some procedures, saying, “The surgeries that I had, three surgeries been real bad, caused a lot of damage to my body, so I don’t know if I will be able to walk but I am gonna give my best shot.” Despite these setbacks, Coleman often trained with a herniated disc.

Refusing to be defeated, Coleman returned to training with a smarter, more strategic approach. He explained, “You’ve got to work the smaller muscles also.” Twice a week, he attended physical therapy sessions and three times a week performed pool exercises such as high steps, single-leg stands, and flutter kicks to rebuild strength, balance, and core stability. The worst, however, came in 2025.

Ronnie Coleman faced his most life-threatening challenge yet: a bout of sepsis in 2025. “Man, let me tell you, these past few weeks have been some of the toughest of my life. Ya boy was hit with sepsis, and it nearly killed me,” he revealed. Coleman credited his 13-year-old daughter for acting quickly, saving him from the brink.

During his hospitalization, he was placed in a medically induced coma and on a breathing tube, with his heart function dropping to just 20%. Despite the danger, he launched the “Ronnie Strong” campaign, raising awareness about the rapid, deadly nature of sepsis and showing that the fighting spirit of “The King” is far from extinguished.