Nicholas Brendon, best known for playing the role of Xander Harris for seven seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was recently hospitalized due to a frightening medical episode. The actor’s sister updated his fans on his condition through his Instagram page this week.
“Nicky sends his love and wanted me to apologize that he hasn’t been going live as much lately and to give everyone an update,” Brendon’s sister captioned a series of photos taken during the ordeal. “Nicky is doing fine now but he had to be rushed to emergency about two weeks ago because of a cardiac incident (tachycardia/arrhythmia).”
“Some of you might remember he had a similar incident after his second spinal surgery last year (for Cauda Equina) but this time … he is trying to get a little more rest and has been concentrating on medical appointments,” she added.
Tachycardia is the medical condition of having a heart rate of over 100 beats a minute, while arrhythmia refers to an irregular heartbeat. The spinal surgery mentioned in the post occurred last September after the 51-year-old was experiencing paralysis in his genitals and legs, causing him immense pain and difficulty walking.
Brendon’s manager, Theresa Fortier, told the Daily Mail at the time that the condition had been exacerbated by sleeping on a cement floor in jail after having been arrested for prescription fraud of a controlled substance the month prior. As a result, he was forced to pull out of promotions for his Amazon Prime film Wanton Want, which was released just weeks after his surgery.
“During the arrest they were not quite careful with his condition,” Fortier told the publication. “It has aggravated the symptoms of his previous injury and the paralysis is starting to reappear. He may have burst another disc or everything fell out of alignment.”
“So sleeping on a cement floor with other inmates was not exactly conducive to healing and it aggravated his injury and since then he has been in immense pain with numbness and paralysis,” she added.
Brendon has struggled with his sobriety over the years, leading to a string of arrests over incidents stemming from public intoxication, trashing hotel rooms, and domestic violence. Hopefully, he’s finally getting the help he needs.
