Schwarzenegger, Columbu, Zane, Grant. Not all are household names, yet all are synonymous with the term “champion bodybuilder,” and all are from the iconic Pumping Iron and Gold’s Gym days of the ’70s. Each is an epic story in and of themselves, yet the focus here is on the legendary Mr. World and Mr. America, Bill Grant.
Grant was a scrawny kid who started working out in his early teens to put some meat on his bones. He made some significant gains and started competing before the age of 20.
By 1972, Bill “Man of Steel” Grant was on the podium proudly holding the Mr. America trophy. Two years later, he was crowned Mr. World. Grant’s name was chiseled into the bodybuilding history books.
The rest is history, as they say. From TV and commercials to movies and books, to charity work, to being a spokesperson and advocate, to his own nutrition supplement company, Grant has been successful in virtually every endeavor he’s undertaken.
But something happened about five years ago that nobody ever saw coming.
ONLY MORTAL
In mid-2010, Grant started feeling ill. It didn’t seem like anything serious at first, but as time went on, the sickness got worse. He began seeing doctors, but there was no diagnosis or cure to be found.
“When it first started, it was just bothering me a lot, just pain in my stomach,” he says. “Three years that went on, and it progressively got worse. And I was absolutely really, really, really getting scared.
“It got to the point where I was going to the hospital—over one year—65 times. I was at the hospital in the emergency room sometimes twice a day.”
A DUEL WITH DEATH
Grant was eventually diagnosed with diverticulitis, a condition marked by pockets in the digestive system that can trap small food particles and become inflamed or infected. In Grant’s case, the condition was very painful. The vomiting and diarrhea kept him at home for the better part of two years.
“It was bad. I was very weak. It was so bad at one point I had to have a visiting nurse come help me. I thought I was going to die, and there were times I wanted to.
“Nobody would want to live like this. I couldn’t go outside; I couldn’t go too far, not knowing whether I was going to be throwing up or going to the bathroom. “My stomach was in such pain. [I was] going back and forth to doctor, to doctor, to doctor, and nobody knows what to do. And they’re giving me all this medication—it’s making me even sicker!
“I’m just getting sicker and sicker and sicker. And now at this point, unfortunately, I can’t train anymore. I couldn’t get out of the house.”
During the final month of his illness, Grant lost 40 pounds. It was then that his situation became critical. He was later told that if it were not for bodybuilding and the condition he was in, the weight loss probably would have killed him.
“Every day I prayed, every day. Am I going to wake up tomorrow?”
Everything came to a head early one morning when Grant found himself on the floor, doubled over in pain. His nephew, who was visiting at the time, asked if he could take his uncle to the hospital. Grant declined, but the pain soon became unbearable.
“A little bit after [my nephew] left, all hell broke loose. My stomach was so bad, I was on the floor. My body was starting to shut down at this point. Of course, I [later found out that I] had a perforated colon. I was in tears.
“I thought to myself: ‘Oh, man, I’m dying, man; I’ve got to get to the hospital.’ I picked myself off of the floor, and I got in my car.”
Despite the crippling pain, Grant managed to drive himself to the hospital.
“I’m dragging myself into the hospital. I mean, I’m half-dead now. And I told the doctor: ‘Oh, man, I’m in pain; I feel like I’m dying.’ “You know what that guy told me? ‘You are dying. You need surgery now.’ ”
A team of doctors worked on him for about 2.5 hours.
“They had to take my intestines out—totally take them out—on the table.”
VICTORY, WITH MINOR CASUALTIES
Grant awoke from surgery not knowing what had happened. He soon learned that if he had waited until morning to go to the hospital, he probably would not have lived.
“When I came out of the surgery, it wasn’t a sight that you would want to see. I always had the best abs in the world. They’re not like that anymore. They had to cut right down the middle. I had 18 staples—staples—in my chest, right down my stomach down to my crotch, man! Not only was that there, then they had stitches underneath. Oh, that’s not it—then I had a colostomy bag!
“It was the worst experience in my life.”
Despite all this, Grant stayed optimistic.
“To this day I keep thinking about this: ‘Wow, here my abs were all scarred, but guess what? I’m still alive.’ ”
BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
After allowing his colon to heal for a couple of months, Grant was able to lose the colostomy bag. After a year, he was finally ready to start working out again.
“It was horrible. I’d do one set and I was half-dead. I couldn’t do very much, because I had no energy; I had no muscle. It’s like if I’m gonna get back, I’m just going to train just like I did when I was a kid as a beginner. I’m just going to go real easy.”
Grant has since gained all his weight back and feels better than he did 15 to 20 years ago. Physically, he’s the same man he was before the illness. But one does not go through such an experience and not come out on the other side changed in some way. Grant now sees life—and bodybuilding—in a different way.
“It’s a real wake-up call to me about everything. About life—how you’re going to treat it, how you’re going to treat people, what you think about family.
“Every day I kinda reflect on what life was like back in the day when I was a kid and training and never thinking—never thinking—that I would be incapacitated like this. I’m good now, but this is about, what, five years later now? I went through hell—literal hell—and I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through.”
A MESSAGE FOR THE MASSES
Grant now advocates weight training for health more than for size. He trains his clients to work hard, eat right, and be healthy. His message for young bodybuilders is the same, but it includes a warning about the increased use of substances that are not only making today’s bodybuilders huge but also robbing some bodybuilders of their health and, in some case, their lives.
“The most important thing I have to say is that we have to cut back on what we’re doing. You know, I’m just telling guys out there that they gotta be really cautious. We’ve lost a lot of young bodybuilders. They have to understand there’s life after bodybuilding, and you have to be very careful.
“I’m not saying I’m against steroids, which I did, but I think they had something to do with what happened to me. And I’m saying now, be careful—watch what you’re doing. You only get this life once. It’s not coming back when you’re gone. “All these guys who are bodybuilders look fantastic on the outside, you know. But who knows what’s going on inside? Who knows, especially with what we’re doing, we really don’t know, but we can see now that taking massive doses of this stuff could be deadly.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With all that Grant has been through, he’s remained positive and has dedicated his life to spreading the word about the sport he loves and about healthy ways to train and live. He’s been given a second chance, and he’s making the most of it.
“I’m really going after people with this. I’m a messenger. I feel I need to tell other people what they should be doing and what they shouldn’t be doing. And, believe me, I’m spreading the word, man. Now I’m trying to utilize this time, and I’m trying to teach people about eating right, doing all the right things, thinking about family.
“It’s all about longevity. Today, for me, training is all about longevity. I’m not worried about how much weight I can use; I’m for the health point now—that’s it. I want to stay in shape, I want to look good, I want to feel good, and most of all, I don’t want anything to happen again. I want my insides to be good. I’ve gotten a second lease on life, and so now I’ve gotta do the right thing. I gotta make sure other people get this message. If [we] can make a difference in somebody’s life, one person at a time, what a great world we would have.”
Grant is particularly grateful for all the support from family and fans. “For all the fans, I tell you, man, they all chimed in on my Facebook page. I had a lot of support, not only from my family but a lot of my fans, too, and that really means a lot. I just feel so blessed that I’m still here.” – FLEX
