NFL Chicago Bears' star William 'The Fridge' Perry's sad alcoholic downfall
The sad downfall of alcoholic NFL star William 'The Fridge' Perry
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He will forever be known as the Chicago Bears' man mountain, the lovable, gap-toothed defensive linesman who, at 300lb, was virtually impassable.
But William 'Refrigerator' Perry's descent into alcoholism, and his battle with serious illnesses, have been both long and painful.
At the height of his fame, he could command fees of up to $25,000 for personal appearances, he did ads for several products and there was even a G.I. Joe action-figure doll of him. He appeared on David Letterman's show, the "Tonight Show" and a Bob Hope Christmas special.
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Tragic descent: William 'Refrigerator' Perry, clutching his black walking stick, is helped into a seat outside his home by wife Valerie
Now 48, 'The Fridge' weighs 400lb, he can barely move and the only exercise he gets is the drive to the liquor store.
His heartbroken wife Valerie constantly pleads with him to exercise and take his medication, but Mr Perry just won't listen, ESPN reports.
Every day he needs help getting out of bed and his day largely consists of watching television and eating three or four meals prepared. Valerie's latest trick, just to get him on his feet, is to tell him he has to come to the kitchen to eat his lunch, it's virtually the only way to get him to move.
Bears necessity: 'The Fridge,' in his 72 shirt, became an NFL icon, appeared in countless ads and even had an action figure made after him
Perry's vast appetite for alcohol first became apparent during his college days and when it was brought to the attention of Bears' head coach Mike Ditka early on, the news was filed away for future reference.
By 1987, the Bears were growing tired of his constant weight battles and believed his drinking was at the root of it all. Mr Perry had branched out from beer to vodka, and wife Sherry, the high school sweetheart he married in 1982, was growing increasingly angry at the hours he kept and the amount of alcohol he consumed.
'It wasn't one or two beers, I'll tell you that,' Mr Perry said. 'I mean, it was a whole lot.'
Haunted by demons: Perry talks of his alcoholism during his ESPN interview
In 1988, Sherry flat-out told him he had a problem and needed treatment. Perry said they decided he would go first to trainer Fred Caito and admit he had a problem.
'And it was a big problem,' he said. 'I got my family here and my career here and I'm sitting here in the middle, and I'm stuck. So I have to do something, you know, have to reach out and get some help.'
The organisation arranged for Perry to go to an undisclosed alcohol rehab center, where he spent 28 days and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
When Ditka was replaced as head coach in 1993, Perry was sent packing to the Philadelphia Eagles. His NFL career was over a year later.
Perry started a construction company with his wife's father and lived in an 18,000-square-foot home in Aiken, South Carolina, with Sherry and their four children.
But there was no stopping the drinking and in 2003 Sherry asked for a divorce.
He bumped into Valerie, an old classmate, on Christmas Eve of that year and within 15 months they were a couple.
Perry has long been dogged by weight problems. Here, pictured in hospital, the former NFL great had seen his weight drop to 190lb
Perry got his teeth fixed but developed a mouth infection. 'He was masking the pain with the alcohol,' said Perry's brother Daryl.
'Whenever he would drink, he didn't feel any pain.'
In 2007 Perry's feet, and then his knees and hands, began going numb.
'I couldn't get up,' Perry said. 'I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything, couldn't hold a fork or spoon or anything.'
Perry was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers in June 2008 and diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder triggered when a person's immune system attacks his peripheral nervous system. Perry's hearing also seriously deteriorated.
He was discharged five months later and warned to stay away from alcohol.
In the following year his weight dropped to 190lb, he developed pneumonia and had further spells in hospital and rehab.
'He had a tube down him, and I could hear him calling my name,' Valerie said of his hospital stay in Aiken. 'He wanted me to stop them from hurting him. He kept calling me, "Help me! Help me!" I mean, you can't help him. I just could hear him crying and howling and I couldn't do nothing for him.'
Eventually, the real breakthrough was aquatic therapy. Perry's borther Michael Dean would literally lift him into the pool, and Perry's legs began to respond. Life was creeping back into his gaunt face.
In September 2010 he returned to Aiken but by November, Perry's old demons had returned to haunt him and he was drinking again.
'Yeah, I admit to myself, yeah, I'm an alcoholic,' he says. 'It just keeps going, keeps going, keeps going and keeps going.'
Now he's been diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure but still refuses to take all of his medication.
This time, it seems, 'The Fridge' really is drinking in the last chance saloon.
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