“ Update #10—PROGRESS, ” read the message on Ben Askren’s latest Instagram post, shared two days ago. The video, showing the former NCAA wrestling champion progressing through various physiotherapy and recovery procedures, has already touched thousands of hearts. A week earlier, while lying in his hospital bed, Askren expressed his gratitude. “ So I consider it an opportunity to be alive and be here still, ” he said. Given his situation, he could have easily given up. But being the warrior he is, Ben Askren decided to face it head-on. Placed on a ventilator after being diagnosed with acute pneumonia caused by a staph infection, the Olympian underwent a double lung transplant. Although he briefly returned home, he was soon hospitalized again due to a suspected chest infection.

Askren’s

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