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How did Arnold Schwarzenegger save Tom Arnold's life? 'Roseanne' star suffered from a stroke in January 2022

'I noticed when I turned back around, it felt like my right eye, a curtain had come down like I couldn’t see out of it,' said Tom Arnold

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Arnold who is popular for playing funny roles on screen has started to take his life more seriously since he suffered a stroke a year and a half ago in January 2022.

The 64-year-old actor whose new Tubi show 'Underdeveloped' premieres on September 8, recalled first noticing something was wrong when he was playing a game with his children during bath time, Fox News reports. 

What exactly happened to Tom Arnold?

"I noticed when I turned back around, it felt like my right eye, a curtain had come down like I couldn’t see out of it," Arnold said. "And I thought, ‘Well, maybe I punched myself in the eye.' I did feel … my brain felt weird. I felt something was up." 

Arnold, who is best known for playing Arnie Thomas on 'Roseanne', said that some of his visions had returned by the time he put his children to bed. The next thing that he decided was to seek the help of a doctor the following morning, as he thought at that time, "It can’t be that serious."

Doctors informed him that he had suffered a stroke, and he admitted that he thought, "Oh, you got to be sh--ting me. Because that's just one of those things you don't want to hear, you’re having a heart attack, you had a stroke –  you know, God forbid, cancer or something like that. But you do as you get older, think, ‘Yeah, one of these times I'm going to go to the doctor, and it's going to be very unpleasant.’"

How did Arnold Schwarzenegger save Tom Arnold's life? 

On the UCLA stroke protocol 1 to 10 scale, Arnold was fortunately only at a 1 but it was apparently a "wake-up call" for him. He had put on a lot of weight during the Covid pandemic and was not quite active while he homeschooled his children. 

However, Arnold admitted at last that he came up with various excuses about his health in the past and it was finally time to be transparent with not only his family but also himself. 

"I realized I need[ed] to, no matter what, get in shape. Up to that time, [I] also kind of blamed the kids. I'm like, 'They won’t let me work out because every time I get on the elliptical they're arguing or something is going on.' And we sat down, I said, ‘Hey, your Dad had this thing and I really need to get in shape and get physically fit so I could live for as long as possible with you guys.’ And I think … they've been very supportive."

The comedian also highlighted the crucial part Arnold Schwarzenegger played in helping him gain his fitness. "I just am very blessed that I got this wake-up call," Arnold said, especially after he began working with Charles D’Angelo, who is a trainer of his friend, Schwarzenegger, who reached out when he heard that the former 'True Lies' co-stars would be working together again on "FUBAR." 

"I just went at it hard and here I am", he said. The "McHale's Navy" star said he does sessions with D’Angelo regularly over Zoom, but he initially kept his expectations low even though he constantly received words of encouragement from D’Angelo.

Arnold said, "I go, ‘Yeah, but that's not possible. You can't in six months, we're not going to be able to.’ He goes, ‘No, it is possible. We're going to do it.’ And so I just had to have blind faith, you know, I just did what he told me to do."

What is Arnold's daily routine?

"I went up to an hour of cardio, hard cardio. I ate what he said to eat when he said to eat it. And I was never hungry. But it's just all of a sudden in the spring, we're getting close to that", he said. "And the weight just came off. And I weighed less than I did when we did the movie ‘True Lies,’ and felt much healthier. So, I just had to believe in him and what he does."

Earlier this year, he revealed in an interview with Men’s Health, that he had shed his weight from 285 pounds 205. 

Arnold’s friendship with Schwarzenegger

The duo's friendship began in the 1994 film "True Lies," and recently Arnold appeared in Schwarzenegger’s Netflix series, "FUBAR." The comedian also disclosed that they often FaceTime with each other.

He added that the "Terminator" star is "so into his iPad. Like, you wouldn't think that. Like, he'll send over pictures, and he'll draw [on] them, ‘I love you, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Happy whatever,’ and he spends a lot of time doing that."

Arnold also shared that although the 'Terminator' star hasn’t changed much, he is still "a maniac and will get on his frickin' bicycle and ride into traffic," and his softer side has emerged with his growing age.

"I think he’s sentimental more," Arnold said. "A lot of people he started with are no longer here. And he's not afraid to say, ‘I love that guy. He was my best friend. I wouldn't be where I am without that guy.’"