On Tuesday, Patriots offensive lineman Calvin Anderson shared the story of the harrowing health complications that led to his prolonged absence from the field in 2023.
Taking to social media with a two-minute video discussing how he nearly lost his life to Malaria last summer, Anderson opened up about a trip to Nigeria that almost cost him everything.
“I faced a lot of challenges surrounding my football career but one of the most severe was almost dying twice,” the tackle explained. “Every year, we travel to Nigeria. I woke up my first night back in Boston. My wife recognized something was off. I woke up with a thermometer in my mouth – I was a little off. She took my temperature and I was 105. I didn’t feel like I had time to be sick. We had training camp next week.”
“My fever at the hospital was 108,” Anderson continued. “They ask you for a travel history. I told them I went to Nigeria. ‘Calvin has malaria.’ What malaria does, it starts to eat away at the blood cells in the body and then it starts to break down your internal organs.”
“The doctors came to me when he had malaria and they were like, if you brought him in a few hours later, he basically would’ve died,” his wife revealed in the clip.
As I continue to share my story, my sincere hope is that it inspires at least one person to remain resilient and have faith.
You are in the midst of the creation of your testimony.
By the Grace of God I rise from the ashes renewed and restored.
🤫 pic.twitter.com/xsqRilJ6gS
— Calvin Anderson (@THE_CONDA25) May 7, 2024
All of this happened a week before New England’s training camp and when he returned he ended up suffering a heart contusion in practice.
Now that he’s recovered, the veteran O-lineman will compete for one of the Patriots’ starting spots in the trenches.
“They’re going to see a bigger, stronger, more mentally fortified, smarter version of Calvin Anderson,” he said.