Sam Sorbo's Facebook Post and Article she found

Sam Sorbo Official Facebook Page 
Nice review of Kevin's new book, True Strength. This is a great book for anyone struggling with illness, or other types of challenges... inspirational message of why you don't give up, why you ignore the naysayers, and how to persevere.

Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, October 21, 2011 | Shelf Awareness

 

www.shelf-awareness.com

 

Welcome to the Web site for Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade, the free e-mail newsletter dedicated to helping the people in stores, ...

about an hour ago

THANKS FOR SHARING SAM!!!

True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal--and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life

by Kevin Sorbo

Kevin Sorbo played the title role in the popular action drama Hercules: The Legendary Journeys--at one time, the most-watched TV show in the world--for seven seasons. During the last couple of years he worked on the show, his physical strength was compromised by the aftereffects of three mini-strokes he suffered at the age of 38. After nearly a decade of keeping the details of his experience on a need-to-know basis, Sorbo tells the whole story publicly for the first time in this book.
A lifelong athlete and former model, Sorbo seemed perfectly cast as the demigod Hercules, and he identified strongly with his part. Illness and weakness weren't part of that picture. But when an aneurysm in his shoulder caused blood clots that damaged his left arm and the vision center of his brain, the medical challenges of recovery were complicated by his condition's contrast with his Herculean (self-) image.
Sorbo met his future wife, actress Sam Jenkins, on the set of Hercules just months before he had the strokes, and she's one of several associates who contribute chapters to the memoir, discussing their own impressions of Sorbo during the period of his illness and recovery. Their depictions of the actor reinforce the impression he makes on the reader--affable, honest and hardworking at everything he undertakes, including getting his true strength back. His story is no mythic journey; it's all too human, and well worth reading. --Florinda Pendley Vasquez, blogger at The 3 R's Blog: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness
Discover: How an unexpected health setback forced actor Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo to reconsider and reconstruct his life.

Da Capo, $26, hardcover, 9780306820366 

 

Article Source: http://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=38

He wore this same shirt in Minneapolis, MN on Saturday the 15th when I saw him at the book Fair :-)

Body and Mind - HEALTH

Kevin Sorbo Reclaims His Life After Suffering 3 Strokes, Aneurysm

Published October 23, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Actor Kevin Sorbo had a secret – and he’s just now letting the world know about it.

In 1997, at the age of 38 – Sorbo was engaged to be married and starring as Hercules in the hit TV show of the same name.

Nothing could get him down – or could it?

Recently, Sorbo sat down with Dr. Manny, senior managing health editor of Foxnews.com, to talk about his new book, “True Strength: My Journey From Hercules to Mere Mortal – and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life,” in which he details how he suffered an aneurysm in his left shoulder and suffered three strokes in one day.

While filming the fifth season of Hercules in New Zealand, Sorbo started feeling pain in his left arm. He chalked it up to stressful work on-set, but when he returned to the U.S., he decided to see his doctor.

“He found a lump in my shoulder, and he didn’t tell me at the time, but he actually thought it was cancer,” Sorbo said. “I couldn’t even pick up 10 pounds.”

Meanwhile, Sorbo visited a chiropractor, who cracked his neck. Something about this alarmed Sorbo, but it wasn’t until he was driving home that he started feeling dizzy.

His symptoms became worse – he started losing his vision and his speech was slurred. His then-fiancée, Sam, took him to the hospital.

Sorbo said doctors pumped him full of blood thinners and diagnosed him with the aneurysm and strokes.

He spent eight days in the intensive care unit and went through three months of rehabilitation.

But, he still couldn’t get rid of the humming noise in his head, and his balance still felt off.

He said it was at least a year before he started feeling better.

“I turned from Western medicine to Eastern medicine,” Sorbo said of his journey. “I did acupuncture and yoga. I was having anxiety attacks.”

Sorbo returned to work, scaling back the amount of hours he worked in a day. Scenes were rewritten and stunt doubles stood in for him.

“I didn’t want people to know because of ego, fear,” Sorbo said. “It was tough on the male ego.”

Sorbo said he wrote the book because “if it happened to me, it could happen to you.”

Today, Sorbo is feeling much better. He and Sam have three kids, and he continues to work out and play golf. He wrapped Hercules and filmed another TV series, Andromeda, as well as dozens of movies.

Still, his life has changed – and for the better.

“I’m taking life a little slower, trust me,” he said.


Article Source: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/23/kevin-sorbo-reclaims-his-life-after-suffering-3-strokes-aneurysm/

Kevin Sorbo at the Twins Cities Book Fair Video

The lighting in that room was so dim, sorry the picture quality isn't that great, but at least we get to hear him talk for 53 minutes LOL This is the video of Kevin's Q and A and reading the 1st chapter of his books He talked for 53 minutes... which is why I don't have many pictures of him making the video killed my batteries and we forgot the spare ones in the van....

Home > Celebrity > News

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Celebrity

'Hercules' star Kevin Sorbo: 'I understood suicide after strokes'

Published Friday, Oct 21 2011, 9:44pm EDT | By Jennifer Still 

© PA Images / Christian Alminana/AP

Kevin Sorbo has confessed that he "understood" suicide after suffering from an aneurysm and three strokes in 1997.

The former Hercules and Kull the Conquerer star revealed that he experienced vision problems and a constant "humming" in his head for years after the illnesses, which he recounts in his new memoir True Strength.

"Obviously, it completely turned my life around. I went from 14-hour days on the set to one hour a day for the next half of the season until I could slowly build myself up again," he told The Huffington Post.

"It was a good three years before I felt normal again, and over two years for the generator sound in my head to stop. It was like a low humming sound, 24 hours a day.

"I told my wife I never understood suicide until then. There would be people who wouldn't be as strong as I am - I'm a very strong-willed person - this would be too much for them to handle.

"It was horrible. I literally went from a guy in his 30s - in as good as shape as most athletes in their early 20s - to a guy who was 90 years old within seconds."

He went on to say that while he struggled with his condition, he has since come to regard the experience as a gift, adding: "It didn't kill me. It certainly made me stronger. It pushed me to become a bigger and stronger man - physically and mentally."

Sorbo recently signed up for a cameo role on ABC's new comedy Apartment 23 alongside Dean Cain.

 

Article Source: http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a346889/hercules-star-kevin-sorbo-i-understood-suicide-after-strokes.html

Kevin Sorbo at the Twins Cities Book Fair

 

FINALLY got My Hug Picture... though I always get hugs :-) Gods I look terrible LOL

Kevin Sorbo, Actor and Author

Kevin Sorbo Book Tour Schedule

Kevin Sorbo
Book Tour Schedule
Oct. 17, 2011
Premiere Radio Networks, radio tour, 8-11 a.m. ET
8:00 - WHCN - Hartford
8:10 - KATM - Sacramento
8:20 - WFON - Green Bay
8:30 - WCFF - Champaign, IL
8:40 - WMJI - Cleveland
8:50 - WWHT/WYYY - Syracuse
9:10 - KWNG - Minneapolis/St. Paul
9:20 - WWYZ - Hartford
9:30 - WDUN - Atlanta
9:40 - WRXW - Jackson, MS
9:50 - KODJ - Salt Lake City
10:10 - KNEN - Norfolk, NE
10:20 - WROK, WKGL - Rockford/Chicago
10:30 - KLPX - Tucson
10:40 - KPLN / KRZN - Billings
10:50 - KBEE - Salt Lake City
11:00 - WRIF - Detroit
12:30-1:00 p.m. ET - interview taping - TheBlaze.com
2:00 p.m. ET - “Rusty Humphries Show,” Talk Radio Network, interview taping
4:00-4:40 p.m. ET - "Robert Wuhl Show" radio show - Live
6 p.m. ET - Barnes & Noble, Tribecca, 97 Warren Street, New York, NY - Book signing
9:30 p.m. ET - "Hannity", Fox News Channel
Oct. 18, 2011
6:30 a.m. ET - on-air (live), Fox TV’s “Fox & Friends"
ABC News Radio, radio tour, 8:30-10:30 a.m. ET
8:50 a.m. - WAAF/Boston - Live
9:00 a.m. - WHUD/NY - Tape
9:10 a.m. - WOR/NY - Tape
9:20 a.m. - WTAM/Cleveland - Tape
9:30 a.m. - KQRC/Kansas City - Live
9:40 a.m. - WLW/Cincinnati - Tape
9:50 a.m. - TBA
10:00 a.m. - WIBC/ Indianapolis - Tape
10:10 a.m. - ABC News Radio/ Nat’l - Tape
11:00 a.m. - ABC News Now - tape interview
1 p.m. - Taping Fox News Health interview with Dr. Manny Alvarez - will be posted online at Fox
News Health
6:15-6:45 p.m. ET - “Stone & Double T Show,” WXRX Radio (Rockford, IL) - Live
7:00-7:30 p.m. ET - “John Batchelor Show,” WABC Radio (NYC) - Tape
Oct. 19, 2011
8:00 a.m. ET - “Point of View,” IRN (Info Radio Net) USA Radio News - Tape
SiriusXM Radio
9:30 - 9:50 a.m. ET - Broadminded (Stars channel)
Better TV (syndicated) - will tape between 10-11 a.m. ET
SiriusXM Radio continued
11:05 - 11:30 a.m. - Judith Regan (Stars channel)
11:35 - 11:55 a.m. - Frank DeCaro (OutQ channel)
12:00 - 12:25 p.m. - Whoo Kid (Shade 45)
12:30 - 1:00 p.m. - David Webb (Patriot channel)
1:00 - 1:25 p.m. - Focus Group (OutQ channel)
1:30 - 1:55 p.m. - Maggie Linton (Book Radio channel)
3:00-3:30 p.m. ET - “Profiles,” NYC Life (TV channel 25), taped in-studio interview
7 p.m. ET - Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ - Book signing
Oct. 20, 2011
Taping AOL "You've Got" video 9 a.m. - will be posted on AOL
10-11 a.m. ET - "Beyond the Heart,” SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio, in-studio interview, host is
cardiologist Nieca Goldberg
11:30 a.m. - “It’s Your Health,” nationally syndicated radio - taping interview
12:06-12:16 p.m. air-time ET - “Dennis Miller Radio Show,” live phone interview
1:00 p.m. - “Prime Time Radio,” AARP Radio (national), taping interview
3:00-3:30 p.m. ET - “Jordan Rich Show,” WBZ Radio, taping interview
4:00-4:30 p.m. ET - People.com, taping video interview
5:00-5:30 p.m. ET - Mr. Media Skype video interview, Live
6:00-7:00 p.m. ET - Interview, Friends Health Connection, live webinar, talk/Q&A
“Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld,” Fox News Channel (national), 3 a.m. ET (tapes earlier in evening)
10:00 p.m. ET - “All In” for Kids (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia charity poker tournament),
hosted by poker champ Phil Hellmuth, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in NYC
Oct. 21, 2011
Mass Media Prep radio tour, 8-10 a.m. ET
Oct. 24, 2011
“Access Hollywood Live,” on between 8 and 9 a.m. PT
“The Talk,” national on CBS TV - Live - check local listings for time
4:00 p.m. PT - “The Journey Home with Diego Mulligan,” KSFR (Santa Fe Public Radio) - Live
5:00-5:15 p.m. PT - “Patrick Phillips Show” (available on the Web and via iTunes) - Interview
taping
Oct. 25, 2011
7:00 p.m. PT - “The Mancow Experience,” national radio - Live
9:00-9:30 a.m. PT - “Mark and Nina,” 102.3 HFM (UK) - Phone interview
12:15 p.m. PT - “Dr. Drew’s Lifechangers,” CW (national TV), Taping in studio appearance
2:00-2:30 p.m. PT - E! News (national TV) - Taping in studio appearance
5:30 p.m. PT - Interview - ReelzChannel TV
7:00 p.m. PT - Barnes & Noble at The Grove (Los Angeles), “in conversation with” KTLA TV’s
entertainment reporter Sam Rubin followed by book signing
Oct. 26, 2011
10:30 a.m. PT - Taping of "The 700 Club" interview
2:00-3:00 p.m. PDT - “In Discussion” David Gibbons" syndicated radio show
7:30-8:00 p.m. PT - “The Bill Feingold Show,” KNEWS Radio (Palm Springs, CA), Live phone
interview
Nov. 3, 3011
8:00 a.m. PT - “Morning Show,” WGTD Radio (NPR in Kenosha, WI), Taping interview
9:00 a.m. PT - “Roundtable Morning Show,” WAMC Radio (Northeast Public Radio), Taping
interview
2:35-2:50 p.m. PT / 4:35-4:50 p.m. CT - “The Lori & Julia Show,” KTMY Radio (St. Paul, MN),
Live phone interview
Nov. 4, 2011
9:00 a.m. PT - “Penguin Tracks,” KOPN Radio (Columbia, MO), Taping interview
1:30-1:45 p.m. PT - “Jerry Doyle Show,” Talk Radio Network (national), live phone interview
Nov. 5, 2011
3:15-3:30 p.m. PT - “Terry Jaymes Alive,” KIRO Radio, live phone interview
Nov. 8, 2011 - Santa Monica Public Library, Santa Monica, CA - “In conversation with”
entertainment journalist Christine Spines followed by a book signing
Dec. 15, 2011 - 7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO - Talk/book
signing

Source: http://www.kevinsorbo.net/Kevin_Sorbo_Book_Tour_Schedule.pdf

Stroke Connection - When Hercules Had A Stroke

Follow the links under each picture to go read the article click on the page to enlarge it and make it readable...

 

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aha/strokeconnection_20111112/#/10 

 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aha/strokeconnection_20111112/index.php?startid=10

True Strength

True Strength

Posted by Michael Brown in BLOG, Book Reviews, Featured, Internal Battles, Physical Battles, Spiritual Growth | Saturday, October 15th, 2011

Sometimes you think you choose a book. And sometimes you realize the book chose you.
One such book is Kevin Sorbo’s True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal–and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life. As you guys know by now I like reading biographies and autobiographies. They allow me to see the world through different eyes.
I preordered this book on a whim, not really expecting much.  Maybe some cool Hollywood stories about Hercules and Andromeda (which there are many). I figured it would be a fun little break from school reading.
It was so much more.
This is a book about life, death, hopes, and dreams – dreams that are realized and others that are shattered. This book is a fast read but it is not an easy read. You will laugh, you will tear up, and your stomach will be knotted at times.
This book will stretch you.
Through a linear story with flash backs – we learn that Kevin had an aneurysm and three, yes three, mini-strokes during the hiatus of Hercules. His strokes appear to have been caused after he visits a chiropractor. While there, Sorbo hears a voice telling him not to let the doctor crack his neck. He hears this voice twice. He doesn’t listen.
Kevin goes from being a “demi-god” who needed no help, on the fast track to all his goals, to the shadow of the man he once was (as he saw it). We live through it with him and his wife Sam, his friends, family, and co-workers. We live through the deepest valley with Sorbo, yet even there we see a glimmer of hope; a hope that God is still with Kevin, even through this personal hell.
This is a story of inspiration and hope through the most trying of situations. It should be read by everyone so that they can understand, even if just a little bit, how it feels to live through a stroke or other life altering medical issue, and come out on the other side spiritually renewed. The main lesson in this story is that even when the unthinkable happens, it doesn’t not mean your life is over.
I highly recommend this book – it will be well worth your time.

Article Source: http://www.thirdoptionmen.org/blog/true-strength/

VIDEO: Kevin Sorbo Talks Strokes, Facing His Own Death, and More

"Hercules" Actor Kevin Sorbo talks to us about suffering strokes in September 1997, and how he found the strength to get through them

• By Matt Owen
• Email the author
• 10:00am

THERE ARE TWO VIDEOS GO WATCH THEM

1 of 2

Hercules star Kevin Sorbo sat down for an interview to discuss how he overcame three strokes and how to go beyond what people think you're capable of. His book True Strength can be found at Bookends in Ridgewood. Credit Matt Owen

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Actor Kevin Sorbo was at Bookends in Ridgewood to promote his new book, True Strength on October 19 at 7 p.m. We were able to sit down for an interview with the actor to discuss the book, his near death experience, his interactions with fans, and more.

Related Topics: Bookends, Hercules, and Kevin Sorbo

Article Source: http://ridgewood.patch.com/articles/video-kevin-sorbo-displays-inner-herculean-strength-talks-strokes-facing-his-own-death-and-more#video-8175671

True Strength Kevin Sorbo

B-

by Zack Handlen October 19, 2011

• Author:

  • Kevin Sorbo

• Publisher:

  • Da Capo Press
• B- Community Grade

Celebrity memoirs serve two basic functions. Overtly, they let fans get to know their idols better, and vicariously experience their raise to fame; covertly, they offer celebrities a chance to dish. Kevin Sorbo’s new autobiography, True Strength: My Journey From Hercules To Mere Mortal And How Nearly Dying Saved My Life, leans far more heavily on the former than the latter, although the star of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Andromeda does get in a swipe or two at some presumably deserving targets. But even more than fame-watching and gossip, Strength is a confession of Sorbo’s struggles with poor health, and his attempts to hide those struggles from the public. As much an inspirational story as a narrative about the former model’s rise to cable stardom, the often surprisingly candid memoir offers a look at the effects long-term debilitation can have on relationships and careers.
In 1997, Sorbo was promoting his big-screen debut, Kull The Conqueror, and getting ready to start shooting his next movie, when three strokes and an aneurysm in his shoulder left him partially incapacitated, damaging his brain enough to leave him with permanent blind spots, physical weakness, and a tendency to be overwhelmed by extensive or prolonged stimulus. Given that Sorbo had built a career on playing one of history’s most recognizable demigods, it became imperative for him and Sam Jenkins, his wife-to-be, to hide the extent of his injuries from the public. His condition forced him to drop out of his second film role (Black Dog), and take on a substantially reduced schedule going into the next season of Hercules. But even more crucially, Sorbo’s impairment made him slow down; for someone who’d spent a lifetime going full-throttle, this proved to be a challenge.
Strength plays a lot off of the contrast between Sorbo’s public image as an invincible muscle-man and his more vulnerable status as a real live guy; he often mentions how strangers’ assumptions forced him into difficult situations, and nearly everyone he meets seems to be confusing him for his fictional counterpart. More interesting is his willingness to discuss the psychological problems that arose from his illness. He was already impatient by disposition, and his sudden weaknesses made him irritable, even irrationally angry. It’s a credit to the book and its writer that Sorbo is willing to present himself in a not-always-flattering light. Strength has chapters written by his wife, various Hercules crewmembers (including Bruce Campbell), and his mother, and while none of the writing is remarkable, everyone involved comes across as sincere. Sorbo is a devout Christian, and hosted the documentary The 12 Biggest Lies, which purports to disprove outrageous falsehoods like “Men and women are equal.” But while his book deals with his beliefs, it stays away from overt politics or evangelism, making it more palatable to outsiders without entirely shedding the subtext. The end result, while it most likely won’t have much interest for anyone who isn’t already a Sorbo fan, is a compelling look at a life temporarily derailed.

Article Source: http://origin.avclub.com/articles/kevin-sorbo-true-strength,63633/

Kevin Sorbo's 'True Strength': 'Hercules' Star Says Strokes Were Blessings In Disguise

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Kevin Sorbo's 'True Strength': 'Hercules' Star Says Strokes Were Blessings In Disguise

First Posted: 10/19/11 05:06 PM ET Updated: 10/19/11 05:06 PM ET

  Celebrities ,   Video , Kevin Sorbo , Kevin Sorbo Aneurysm , Kevin Sorbo Book , Kevin Sorbo Health , Kevin Sorbo Hercules , Kevin Sorbo True Strength , Celebrity News

In September 1997, Kevin Sorbo was sitting pretty. He was playing the title role in the TV show "Hercules," had just filmed his first action movie, "Kull the Conqueror," and had recently become engaged to actress Sam Jenkins. And then, quite literally, his world collapsed.
Sorbo suffered an aneurysm followed by three strokes. He almost lost his arm, and the battle was far from over. Sorbo's balance and vision were severely impaired and there was a constant hum in his head -- and it took many years until his health improved.
His life-changing health scare is recounted in the new book "True Strength," a gripping account of Sarbo's illness and gradual recovery.
So tell me how it all started.
I had months of sensation running down my left arm, tingling, coldness in my fingers... It just got to the point where it was driving me nuts. I was back in America ["Hercules" was filmed in New Zealand] and I went to the gym and a terrible pain shot through my arm while I was doing a bicep curl. I went to my chiropractor and, long story short, he cracked my neck. When I got back in the car moments later I suffered three strokes. I had had an aneurysm in my arm and I believe the crack of the neck accelerated the aneurysm. ... I believe, and a few other doctors believe, is that when he did that motion, it sent the blood clots that were going downstream to go upstream, like salmon, and threw the clots into my brain.
I lost a lot of balance and 10 percent of my vision. I had to learn to re-balance myself. When I went to the hospital, I could barely walk and I remember thinking, "I'm going to die today." I was sort of amazed at how calm I was. I was mad, but in a calm way. I thought, "This really sucks. I thought I'd get married and have kids."
Obviously, it completely turned my life around. I went from 14-hour-days on the set to one hour a day for the next half of the season until I could slowly build myself up again. It was a good three years before I felt normal again, and over two years for the generator sound in my head to stop. It was like a low humming sound, 24 hours a day.
I told my wife I never understood suicide until then. There would be people who wouldn’t be as strong as I am -- I'm a very strong-willed person -- this would be too much for them to handle. It was horrible. I literally went from a guy in his 30s -- in as good as shape as most athletes in their early 20s -- to a guy who was 90 years old within seconds.
Some doctors pooh-poohed your illness because you played "Hercules." Maybe you would have been treated differently if you had played a lawyer.
It is interesting because I even bought into that myth as well. The show was my life. It defined me. It was who I was and I loved it. When I came back on the set after it happened, almost three months later, I could barely work. I was being held up by my makeup artist. The set was so quiet. I’d lost 20 pounds of muscle. They couldn't believe I was the same guy.
You sort of hid how ill you were.
Yes, the crew knew I was sick, but they didn't know how sick. Today, the way the media is, the story would have been out long [before].
Your wife is a keeper. You were engaged when it happened. She could have bailed.
We talked about it. Actually, she said if I hadn't had the strokes, she doubted we would have stayed together.
Why?
Because of my life -- my work and the craziness involved. I was married to ["Hercules"] more than anything or anybody. It was all encompassing for me.
Did you find solace in religion?
I've always been a religious guy, but not overly religious. I've always believed in God and Jesus. I pray. But at the time, I went through stages that most people go through when this happens. The "Why me?" Then I got mad at God. I was like, "What the hell, man? I was getting geared up to be the next action man in Hollywood." It certainly hurt my career, which I wasn’t happy about, but with God I finally got to a point where I was told by a couple of people that I had to look at it as a gift. It was hard for me to do.
How do you look at three strokes as a gift?
It didn't kill me. It certainly made me stronger. It pushed me to become a bigger and stronger man -- physically and mentally.
Kinder?
It took a point to get to that. I've become far more patient -- certainly having kids has changed me as well. I'm definitely more understanding of people who have disabilities and who are suffering. One of the reasons I wrote the book was because people look up to actors and certainly the ones I played were larger than life. Well, anything can happen and it happened to me. I learned everybody has a story. I think this humanizes me more to people.

The ET interview is on the page as well, but I have it  in an earlier ost....

Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/kevin-sorbo-true-strength-hercules_n_1017368.html

1. Getty Images Photo By John W. Ferguson/Getty Images 2 hrs 7 mins ago

RIDGEWOOD, NJ - OCTOBER 19: Actor and author Kevin Sorbo promotes "True Strength" at Bookends Bookstore on October 19, 2011 in Ridgewood, New Jersey. (Photo by John W. Ferguson/Getty Images) 

 

 

Video Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/kevin-sorbos-herculean-health-struggle-14772777

Kevin Sorbo's 'Herculean' Health Struggle

The actor reveals a startling health scare in his new book, "True Strength."

06:41 | 10/19/2011

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Kevin Sorbo Says Multiple Strokes “A Gift”

It takes a strong man to look on three strokes as a “gift.” And not just a physically-strong man like former Hercules star Kevin Sorbo, but an emotionally-strong man like…well, actually, like Kevin Sorbo. As the action star explains in his new book True Strength, “It certainly hurt my career, which I wasn’t happy about, but with God I finally got to a point where I was told by a couple of people that I had to look at it as a gift. It was hard for me to do. It didn’t kill me. It certainly made me stronger. It pushed me to become a bigger and stronger man — physically and mentally.” And if strokes can make someone bigger and stronger than Kevin Sorbo was in 1997, then the U.S. government needs to harness it before the terrorists get to it.
Despite his lengthy recovery process, Sorbo also credits his illness with helping win over his now-wife Sam Jenkins. “Actually, she said if I hadn’t had the strokes, she doubted we would have stayed together,” he explains. “Because of my life — my work and the craziness involved.” Well, we guess the moral of the story is, strokes aren’t that bad, provided you are exactly like Kevin Sorbo. And let’s be honest: none of us are like Kevin Sorbo.

Posted by Halle Kiefer at 5:55 pm

• Illness
• Kevin Sorbo

Article Source: http://www.thefablife.com/2011-10-19/kevin-sorbo-says-multiple-strokes-a-gift/

Northjersey.com : Arts & Entertainment

Kevin Sorbo to appear at book signing in Ridgewood

Tuesday, October 18, 2011    Last updated: Tuesday October 18, 2011, 8:49 AM

BY JIM BECKERMAN

STAFF WRITER

The Record

A word to the wise from Kevin Sorbo: Don't think your body can't turn on you.

COURTESY PHOTO

Kevin Sorbo 

If you go

WHO: Kevin Sorbo.
WHAT: Signing his book, "True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal – and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life."
WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
WHERE: Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood; 201-445-0726 or book-ends.com.
HOW MUCH: Free with purchase of book.

 

Even a body as bronzed and brawny as TV's Hercules.
"If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," says Sorbo, who suffered a life- and career-changing medical emergency in 1997 and lived to tell about it in his new autobiography "True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal – and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life" (296 pages, Da Capo Press).
In the fall of 1997, with three years of the hugely popular syndicated series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" in the can, a new movie "Kull the Conqueror" out in theaters and a seemingly unstoppable career ahead, CNN and Fox News broadcast a small item: Star Kevin Sorbo had suffered a minor aneurysm.

"The studio downplayed it; they said I was going to be fine," Sorbo says. "I'm grateful for that."
The reality was something else.
For months, Sorbo says, he had been feeling an odd sensation in the fingers of his left hand. One day in September, he felt a searing pain in his arm during a workout. While driving home from his chiropractor, his body was suddenly under siege — dizziness, vision loss, slurred speech. He was later rushed to the hospital, with fiancée and "Hercules" guest-star Sam Jenkins by his side. "I kept saying, 'I think I'm going to die today. This really sucks.' I was sort of surprised how casual I was."
Sorbo had suffered not one but three blood clots. A stroke had cut off circulation to his left arm. It came close to being amputated. "It was purple," he says.
There were hellish months of rehab, and even more hellish months of inner turmoil. Sorbo blamed God, blamed fate, blamed himself. "I went from having the body of a 21-year-old college athlete to having the body of a 90-year-old man who had trouble just crawling to the toilet," he says. "It was two years of hell, two years of brutally fighting and clawing my way back. I told my wife, 'You know what, I'm not going to commit suicide, but for the first time in my life, I can understand why people do.' "
When Sorbo went back on location in New Zealand to resume "Hercules," it was a very different Sorbo.
"I had lost 20 pounds of muscle because I couldn't work out anymore," he says. "I walked on the set and the whole crew was silent. It was like going to my own funeral. They could see how weak I'd become."
It was a hard blow to someone who had always prided himself on his physical prowess.
Sorbo was a football, basketball and baseball champ in his native Minnesota, before turning his sights to modeling and Hollywood. He landed Hercules in the 1994 TV movie "Hercules and the Amazon Women." He was a lightweight Hercules, perhaps – but it made him a heavyweight star. "Physically, the Hercules they wanted was my type," Sorbo says. "They said, 'We want an NFL quarterback type. We don't want a defensive lineman.' "
In this, and in Sam Raimi's ("Army of Darkness") spinoff TV series that was seen in more than 100 countries, Sorbo became a new kind of Hercules: jauntier, smarter, less hulking than his beefcake predecessors. But it was still a very physical role, and Sorbo joined a select club of action stars (among them Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jackie Chan) who did most of their own stunts.
"They initially balked at it," Sorbo says. "But you know my ego, as a guy, and as an athlete. I said, 'I can do that, guys.' And they saw I could do it, that they could film me doing it, and it looked great for the show. I did have a good stunt double, who would come in to jump from a tree to a building."
In the post-stroke episodes of "Hercules," by contrast, doubles were extensively used, and other actors were brought in to take up the story slack. One of the toughest things Sorbo had to learn was how to not be Hercules – how to let other folks do the heavy lifting. It was a lesson in humility, and humanity.
"It was a hard thing to let go of," he says. "I was in damn good shape. And all of a sudden, I had to let other people do things for me. I had to realize that it's not a bad thing to have to rely on other people."
The good news, for Sorbo, is that he rebounded: He went on to major roles in TV's "Andromeda" and "The O.C.," Hollywood's "Meet the Spartans" and many other films. He's done voice work for video games like "The Conduit" and "God of War III."
The good news, for the rest of us, is that we can profit from his experience. "I want to motivate people who are going through this, or know someone who is going through this," he says. "It can happen to anybody. And you have to believe that you can recover."
E-mail: beckerman@northjersey.com

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