Referee Dallas Edwards has issued a statement after suffering a medical episode during an Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) match earlier this week.
The official said he experienced a 'brain bleed' in ring at the Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday (12 March).
During the scripted wrestling match, Edwards was struck with an off-the-rope flying forearm from Brendan Balling and began shaking uncontrollably on the mat.
Unaware of what was going on, the wrestlers continued to fight and kicked Edwards out of the way.
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After about a minute, Edwards was being treated in the ring.
While recovering from a hospital bed, Edwards acknowledged how 'scary' the incident was, revealing that he has 'a concussion as well as a subdural hematoma (brain bleed)'.
"With that being said, I have made the decision to take some needed time away to get my life and health back in good spirits," he wrote in a statement shared on X on Saturday.
"I appreciate all of the support everyone has been offering, but as far as money goes, I am grateful to be in a position that I can manage an accident like this."
Edwards added: "I am not mad at anyone or anything other than the situation as a whole, and that I’ve been sitting for about 24 hours straight in a hospital lol.
"As far as updates go, I am getting a CT scan in the morning, and if that goes well, I’ll be home.
"Thank you to everyone who has reached out or stopped by, it means more than any of you know."
Following the incident, OVW said: “Last night during Rise, referee Dallas Edwards – a member of our OVW family – experienced a medical emergency during the broadcast.
“OVW takes the health and well-being of all our performers extremely seriously, and as a company we are all distraught to see an injury to one of our own.
“Dallas is alert and doing much better. We ask everyone to keep him in your thoughts and prayers and respect his and his family’s privacy at this time.
“We wish Dallas a speedy recovery and we can’t wait until he’s back with our OVW family very soon.”
Edwards' girlfriend also said: “Please keep Dallas in your thoughts as your day begins.
“I am not going to provide much more information at this time except to the parties who already know, but last night resulted in a brain injury that is being monitored and will continue to be monitored by doctors here.
“Seeing all the support you guys have already given is amazing and I didn’t want to leave everyone without some kind of update.”
Anish Vij