Sinbad Still Suffering Two Years After Massive Stroke
The family of stand-up comedy legend Sinbad say his recovery is going slowly and have set up a donation fund.
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The family of legendary comedian Sinbad shared a photo on the 66-year-old’s Instagram page, showing him in physical therapy, re-learning to walk, two years after he suffered an ischemic stroke. In a statement shared alongside the photo on Monday, the family explained Sinbad’s medical journey after a blood clot traveled from his heart to his brain and triggered a stroke in October 2020.
Sinbad underwent a thrombectomy to remove the clot, after which he was mobile and talking, although with some weakness, but the prognosis was very promising. Another clot formed the next day, however, and although it was half the original size, he had to undergo another thrombectomy, which was successful, but, according to his family, “took a little more from him than the first surgery.”
The A Different World actor’s brain then started to swell, forcing doctors to perform a craniotomy to relieve the pressure, during which they discovered a bleed. Sinbad was transported to the ICU, where doctors put him into a medically-induced coma and placed him on a ventilator. It would be weeks before he would open his eyes, speak or show signs of basic mobility. Sinbad’s family writes:
After he was taken off the ventilator over the next few months, Sinbad started intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy in May of 2021, and it was there that he started to make considerable progress toward recovery, finally coming home last July, nine months after his initial stroke.
Survival odds from this type of event are approximately 30 percent, so Sinbad has already beaten the odds and has made significant progress beyond what anyone expected, but there is still a long road of recovery ahead of the actor and comedian.
With insurance not covering the full costs of the therapy, the family has set up a donation page for his medical expenses, with all proceeds going to the Adkins Trust, to help provide for Sinbad’s care and help him continue on the path to recovery.
Sinbad, born in 1956 as David Adkins, is best known for his stand-up comedy act which rose to prominence in the late 1980s. He landed a role on the sitcom A Different World, a spinoff of the immensely popular The Cosby Show. After the popularity of that show, he was given his own series simply dubbed The Sinbad Show.
Throughout the ’90s, Sinbad would also appear in a number of notable feature films. In addition to supporting appearances in movies like Coneheads and The Meteor Man, the comedian would find starring roles in films like Houseguest, First Kid, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger Christmas movie, Jingle All the Way. He would also appear in the Nickelodeon film Good Burger. These films made the comedian a prominent presence in the childhoods of ’90s kids everywhere.
The donation website set up by the actor’s family also shares Sinbad’s own words: “Thank God for everything He’s given you, even if it’s not everything you asked for. Thank God for family and hug the ones you love while you’re still with them. We need each other to get through this journey. I can’t wait to see you all again soon. As always, stay funky, stay prayed up.”
