Wrestlers spreading Hepatitis C

[natalie23]

I'm not a big fan of the 'sport' but this story caught my eye.

An Ottawa-based professional wrestler is filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against WWE hall of famer Abdullah the Butcher, claiming the wrestling legend gave him Hepatitis C during a 2007 match forcing him to end his wrestling career prematurely. - http://is.gd/wKXHDW

After my initial repulsion at seeing the bloody Hannibal on the ground and the comment "a common practice in entertainment wrestling is taping a razor blade to your finger", I wondered if this wouldn't be a good way to spread awareness? They have a lot of fans (or so I hear) so why not turn this into an educational opportunity and teach the facts of Hep C to wrestling fans around the world?

I know, I'm dreaming, but we have to do something to break through the silence around this epidemic.

[frankfromatlanta]

I like your outside the box thinking but don't think this is a particularly good place to go. I don't know the risks here but this may all be BS. Can you even get Hep C this way?

But I really do think you are on the right track of finding some accepted mainstream something to raise awareness of the disease. I'm a big fan of celebrities helping too. Your thread on famous people who have Hep C (http://forums.hepmag.com/index.php?topic=963.0) is a great place to start.

[fullof?]

I'm a big wrestling fan but doubt very much they would ever tackle this head on. I can see Mcmahon behind the scenes making sure this news never reaches the American press.

In fact have you checked your mail yet today?

[diannastarr]

This just further stigmatizes the diease in my opinion. If, and it is a big IF, he had Hep C and knew it then maybe there is some merit to this case. But most likely he didn't know it and rather than work to fix testing and awareness, Hannibal is looking for money and restitution. Ass backward!

We need to work together to bring this terrible disease out of the closet and get people talking about it in a positive way. It is can be CURED people. New drugs are coming every day making the treatment better and better. In a perfect world these wrestling folks would institute an awareness program with testing and then helps those who test positive get the best treatment available.

Instead we get bloody pictures and lawsuites. Disgusting.

[natalie23]

Speaking to the Ottawa Citizen, Abdullah said that he does not have Hepatitis C and would be providing a blood sample in the coming days in order to prove so.

He goes on to say...

Abdullah also stated that Nicholson has been in the wrestling business for many years and said that he has been in other matches that have involved blood and that Abdullah isn’t the only person he has wrestled, with Abdullah pointing out that Nicholson has wrestled everybody, stating that he has been to Puerto Rico and all over the world.

Wow. That is kind of scary. So how many wrestlers have Hep C and don't know it? Football players have concussions and I guess wrestling has Hep C. diannastarr you are so right. Wrestling needs to tackle this head on and launch awareness and testing programs ASAP!