The Carolina Panthers have activated defensive end Henry Anderson and added him back to the roster on Saturday after Anderson revealed he suffered a “minor stroke” in October.
On Oct. 22, a day before the Panthers faced Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Anderson was admitted to the hospital after feeling numbness in his legs and arms as well as experiencing his speech slurring.
“We got it resolved pretty quickly,” Anderson said on Dec. 7. “It was a stroke, so it’s basically like a blood clot in your brain.”
After a few days in the hospital, Anderson was released and put on the reserve/non-football injury list on Oct. 25, but the reason wasn’t known until Dec. 7.
“I didn’t know much about strokes, but I found out more about them and realized I got pretty lucky avoiding anything serious and long-term,” Anderson said.
“I am glad that I was kind of oblivious when it happened because I would have been a little more panicked had I realized what was going on. But like I said, I got pretty lucky.”
The Panthers (4–8) sit in third in the NFC South ahead of their Sunday clash against the Seahawks.
Anderson’s teammate Brian Burns said that the team was not told about Anderson’s stroke before the October game against the Bucs.
“I just kind of remember him not being at the meeting for personal reasons,” Burns said. “It was scary to me when we found out he had a stroke because he was so young and he’s an athlete.
“He is like in top-tier shape. I feel like most of the times when I hear about strokes it is older people or obese people or maybe because of a heat stroke, or something like that.”
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
