Report: Family says Gordie Howe didn't suffer another stroke after all
A day after hockey legend Gordie Howe was hospitalized with what his family called another "significant stroke," CBC reported Tuesday night that Howe instead suffered from dehydration and fatigue, but did not have a stroke.
According to the CBC report, Howe’s son Murray, also a radiologist, wrote in an email: “[It was] likely dehydration with superimposed fatigue. Plan to discharge him home tomorrow. He's alert and ate well tonight. I spoke with him briefly on the phone. He's still him. Just worn out.”
One of Howe's other sons, Marty, said in an email to CBC that his 86-year-old father "is awake now and responding to commands. We hope to have him back at home soon if he keeps improving."
The man known as "Mr. Hockey" set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, records later broken by Wayne Gretzky.
Earlier Tuesday, Cathy Purnell said her father suffered a "significant stroke" on Monday. Howe was stable and "a little bit alert" Tuesday morning, and doctors at a Lubbock hospital where he had been taken were scheduled to do additional tests, she said.
"He's a fighter," Purnell said. "The man is tough. He has this will to keep going, all things considered."
She added that therapists who have been tending to Howe arrived at her house Monday morning and discovered him nonresponsive in bed. Howe remained that way until evening, when Purnell said he recognized family members once he became alert.
Howe suffered what his children called a serious stroke in late October and another in early November. He has been staying at his daughter's home in Lubbock.
Purnell said the family wants to get her father back to her house as soon as possible.
"It scares the daylight out of me," Purnell said, adding that she told him Monday night to "stop pulling these games on me. He gave me a smile. His sense of humor is intact."
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
