Vincent Irizarry Shares an Update on His Brain Injury Recovery
It’s been a little more than a month since soap vet Vincent Irizarry had to have emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain following a traumatic head injury. Thankfully, the actor — known to soap audiences for his roles as GUIDING LIGHT‘s Lujack and Nick, ALL MY CHILDREN‘s David, DAYS OF OUR LIVES’ Deimos, and THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS’ David, among others — received some great news about his progress last week and he happily shared it with his followers on social media.
In his lengthy Instagram post, Irizarry posted an image from a computerized tomography scan, also known as a CT scan. “What do you see when you look at this image? A smiley face perhaps?” the actor asked. “Well, for me it is… sort of. It’s a still image from my most recent CT scan, performed this past Tuesday. (Yeah, that’s my brain, folks).”
The way his brain scan looked the second week of April was “completely different” from how the image appeared before his March 11 surgery, Irizarry noted. “My brain [was] being forced over to the left side of my skull, the existing, sizable hematoma that had developed putting significant pressure on my brain, with the very real potential of initiating a seizure, a stroke, or even death at any given moment.”
Irizarry continued that the image he’d shared, shown to him at an April 15 appointment with his neurologist, “shows a completely different outcome from where I was just a few short weeks ago,” he continued. “It shows a nearly symmetrical, mirror image of the two halves of my brain, which is the way it’s supposed to be for all of us. In simple terms, the healing process is going exceptionally well, which, for me, gives great cause to breathe a sigh of relief, even to celebrate.”
As previously reported, Irizarry suffered a traumatic brain injury after he stepped in between a couple’s domestic argument in a restaurant parking lot back in December and was knocked to the ground by the husband. When he fell, Irizarry hit his head and suffered a massive concussion that resulted in fluid to his brain. That eventually led to a hematoma — a collection of blood within the skull — that had to be surgically addressed.
“Honestly, I feel very blessed to have had such an able, exceptionally skilled surgeon, Dr. Jared Ament,” Irizarry shared, adding that his neurologist “not only eased my reasonable concerns and anxiety when expressing the need for the procedure at our first meeting but who was masterful in applying his skills to what ultimately became a much more complicated procedure once I was under, from what I had been told. This image clearly shows he was greatly successful, all to my immeasurable gratitude and relief.”
Even as he is recovering from the brain injury, Irizarry was able to poke fun at himself. “I guess you can say he confirmed for many of you that I am a head-case, after all,” the actor quipped, adding the smiley face and mind-blown emojis, before concluding his post with a more serious sentiment. “Thank you, everyone, for your oh-so-dear expressions of loving support through it all, and your generous, heart-inspired prayers, all of which I would never take for granted.”
We are thrilled to hear that Irizarry’s recovery is going so well!
