Tanea Brooks, known to many wrestling fans as Rebel, said on May 1 that doctors have diagnosed her with terminal ALS after a two-year medical search that had already kept her away from AEW. She said the diagnosis came while she was waiting for lung surgery at the Mayo Clinic, where doctors had been treating her for lung cancer.
“First, I want to say thank you for all your prayers, because for those who know, I spent a two-year medical journey trying to find out what is wrong. And finally, our prayers have been answered,” Brooks said in the video. She added, “The thing is, sometimes we don’t want to hear the answer to our prayers.”
Brooks had been absent from AEW for the past two years because of health issues. Late last year, she said her lengthy absence was tied to those problems and revealed a lung cancer diagnosis. She also said then that her medical team at the Mayo Clinic was working toward a treatment plan, and she discussed a functional neurological disorder that had limited her ability to walk, speak and use her right hand.
In the new video, Brooks said the answer arrived only after doctors were preparing her for surgery on masses on her lungs. “And so, while I was waiting to have lung surgery for the masses on my lungs, the doctors at Mayo found, finally found, what’s going on. The doctors have diagnosed me with terminal ALS,” she said.
ALS is a terminal, progressive neurodegenerative disease with no known cure. It kills motor neurons, causing muscle paralysis, and usually leads to death by respiratory failure. Brooks said the diagnosis explains why she has trouble walking and talking, and said all of her functions will soon decline.
She also said there is not much research behind ALS and that she does not know how long she has. Even so, she said the diagnosis lets her and her doctors prepare for what comes next. “Now we can prepare for the future and what is to come,” she said.
Brooks ended her message by thanking Tony Khan and AEW for supporting her through the medical ordeal, calling that support “unheard of,” and asked people to keep praying for “a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing.”