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Former wrestling champ tells of his close encounter with death

Former professional wrestler Lee Wang-pyo on Friday revealed that he recently had surgery for gallbladder cancer which nearly claimed his life.

“After the doctors cut out the tumor in my gallbladder, they found that the cancer had metastasized in my pancreas,” Lee said while appearing on KBS’ morning talk show “Yeoyu-man-man.”

“The surgery (on the pancreas) took eight hours, and they had to cut out a third of my pancreas.”

Lee added that the doctors warned him he could die during the operation, revealing a will that he had written on his cell phone.

“I said that if something happened to me during the surgery, I want to donate my organs. And I wanted to give my eye to Lee Dong-woo,” the 58-year-old said.

Lee Dong-woo, a comedian whose popularity peaked in the 1990s, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2004 and lost his eyesight in 2010. He expressed his gratitude at Lee Wang-pyo’s comments and said he hoped that the former wrestling champion would regain his health soon.

Lee Wang-pyo, who stood 190 cm and weighed 120 kg in his heyday, is considered one of the most influential South Korean wrestlers of all time. He is considered a successor of Kim Il, one of the early pioneers of professional wrestling in South Korea.

(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)