Troubled 'Buffy' Star Nicholas Brendon Is Paralyzed In His Genitals And Legs Following Jail Stint For Prescription Fraud
Sept. 10 2021, Published 1:14 p.m. ET
No, this is not a weird game of celebrity Mad Libs. This is Nicholas Brendon's reality.
Since his arrest and stint in jail last month, the troubled Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Criminal Minds star has been suffering bizarre medical problems that have left him with paralysis of his genitals and legs.
The 50-year-old actor's manager and best friend, Theresa Fortier, has revealed Brendon is suffering from Cauda Equina Syndrome, a rare but serious condition characterized by extreme pressure and swelling of the nerves at the end of the spinal cord.
CES is considered a medical emergency that requires urgent surgical intervention. Failure to receive treatment can result in paralysis, impaired bladder and/or bowel control, difficulty walking, and/or other neurological and physical problems.
According to Fortier, Brendon has had back issues for years, but they were exacerbated after he suffered a fall in February.
She insists that since the star's arrest and night spent inside jail – during which he slept on concrete-floored cell – his problems have worsened.
"This past week and a half, things have turned drastically worse," she told The Daily Mail. "He is suffering from paralysis in his genitals and private parts."
"During the arrest they were not quite careful with his condition," she explained. "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."
Fortier said that "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."
"The hospital needs to bring him in for another spinal surgery to correct whatever it is that has happened," she added, noting that Brendon is waiting on results of scans of his back and groin area, and is expected to undergo the intensive operation in the coming days.
