Ric Flair, 77, was hospitalized Friday, Oct. 23, after falling outside a restaurant in Tampa, Florida. TMZ reported the fall happened outside a Wagamama, where Flair injured his head and eye, suffered extensive bleeding and may have sustained a concussion. News of Ric Flair hospitalized in Tampa spread quickly on social media, arriving only hours after Flair revealed on Instagram that he has a blood clot in his leg. The hospitalization was first reported on Friday.
USA Today reported the hospitalization on Friday and said it reached out to Flair’s representative for comment. Parade and The Source also carried the story of Ric Flair hospitalized in Tampa.
TMZ supplied the first account of the incident. Its report placed the fall outside the Wagamama in Tampa and listed the injuries to Flair’s head and eye, the extensive bleeding and the possible concussion. Other outlets then repeated those details as the story spread through Friday. By Friday evening, the fall and the earlier Instagram post were being covered together by USA Today, Parade and The Source.
Why Ric Flair hospitalized news broke on Friday
The Ric Flair hospitalized story began with the fall. According to TMZ, Flair went down outside the Wagamama restaurant in Tampa, injuring his head and eye. The outlet described extensive bleeding at the scene and said he was being evaluated for a possible concussion. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The fall drew added notice because of what Flair had disclosed earlier in the day. On Instagram, he revealed the blood clot in his leg and said his doctors had limited his travel to three or four hours at a time. With Ric Flair hospitalized the same day as that post, the injury and the clot became one unfolding story in Friday’s coverage.
Friday’s coverage linked the two health developments because of their timing. The Instagram post came first, announcing the clot and the canceled Seattle trip. The fall outside the Tampa restaurant followed hours later, sending Flair to the hospital with the head and eye injuries TMZ described.
The blood clot and the canceled Seattle appearance
Flair’s Instagram post explained why his weekend changed. The travel restriction from his doctors ruled out the trip to Seattle, where he was booked to appear at the Washington State Horror Con on Oct. 24 and 25. The Horror Con appearance would have required the long trip to Seattle that his doctors had ruled out. He canceled that appearance, hours before word that Ric Flair hospitalized in Tampa became the day’s second headline.
In the same post, Flair said he will undergo a procedure to strip the affected vein. He also pointed to Jalen Hurts’ recent bilateral pulmonary emboli, describing them as a reminder not to take blood clots lightly. The post presented the clot as a condition he is taking seriously, and the procedure as the next step once doctors clear him. Flair described the vein-stripping procedure in his own Instagram post, the same post in which he disclosed the clot and the travel limit.
Ric Flair hospitalized: what doctors are doing
Details of Ric Flair hospitalized in Tampa remain limited to what has been reported. The fall caused head and eye injuries, extensive bleeding and a possible concussion, and doctors are assessing each of them. The blood clot in his leg is a separate matter that still requires the vein-stripping procedure he described on Instagram.
The three-to-four-hour travel limit remains in effect while he is treated. It was that restriction, set by his doctors before the fall, that forced the cancellation of the Seattle appearance. Any further travel will depend on medical clearance.
Reaction from Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair, his daughter, addressed news of Ric Flair hospitalized Friday on social media. She wrote that her father will be “ok.” Her message was the only public comment from the family reported on Friday.
With Ric Flair hospitalized and the Oct. 24 and 25 dates in Seattle canceled, the immediate focus is his treatment in Tampa. USA Today said it reached out to Flair’s representative for comment. The vein procedure to strip the affected vein is still ahead.