Hulk Hogan Privately Battled Cancer Before His Death

Hulk Hogan was diagnosed with cancer before his death last week at age 71. The legendary wrestler privately battled chronic lymphocytes, multiple news outlets report.

It is unclear when Hogan was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), which typically impacts older adults and progresses more slowly than other forms of leukemia.

The news surfaced shortly after Hogan’s cause of death was released. Documents from the Pinellas County Forensic Science Center confirmed Hogan died from acute myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack. Those same documents also indicated Hogan’s cancer diagnosis, something that was undisclosed to the public previously.

Hogan, a six-time WWE World Champion, also had a history of atrial fibrillation, a common condition that causes irregular heartbeats, according to the documents.

Hogan had previously battled health issues and undergone several surgeries. He was reportedly intubated and battled renal failure, fluid overload and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as complications from a neck surgery he had in May.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer wrote in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter on Friday that Hogan’s healthcare team “took him out of the hospital and made a hospital in his house as there wasn’t much left they could do.”

Hogan, whose legal name was Terry Gene Bollea, died on Thursday, July 24 at his home in Clearwater, Florida. First responders rushed to his home at 9:51 a.m. for a call of a person in cardiac attest. Medics attempted to revive him at the scene but he was declared dead not long after being transported to a hospital.

Rumors that Hogan was in poor health began to circulate online in June, but a representative for him denied those reports, telling E! News on June 18 that were were “no reasons to panic.”

Hogan was a controversial figure in pop culture throughout his career. Audio of him going on a racist rant was leaked in 2015 that he later called “unacceptable.” He was also featured in a sex tape that was leaked online in 2012, something that became the legal cornerstone for his lawsuit against the website Gawker. That lawsuit was settled for $31 million in 2016 and led to the blog network’s bankruptcy.