In hospital with pluerisy, pneumonia, and needs double hip replacement. Poor man.
“I’m only half a Gladiator now. It’s been touch and go. I don’t feel like I’m kicking the bucket at the minute, but it will only take another cold or cough and I’m in trouble.”
Good grief - poor chap!
Bet he had his flu jab !!! 
Same article also said:
"A former TV ‘Gladiator’ has warned of the dangers caused by punishing fitness regimes as he revealed he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia.
Michael “Cobra” Willson, 55, said he fell seriously ill after putting his body through years of “tough workouts” which had taken its toll on his health."
A shame to see how this panned out for him.
Cobra was never intended to be a gladiator. He was there to be a contestant until just before the first show they realised they needed 2 more gladiators.
There were tons of injuries along the way in the many series.
Jet hung up her leotard and left the show after hurting her back in an unaired episode at the end of series four. The game Pyramid was later cancelled from the show.
Panther sustained a serious neck and back injury after falling head first during the Tilt event. I’m guessing may remember that episode and her horrific fall !
Zodiac suffered a serious fall on Pole Axe in 1996
Amazon (Sharron Davies) severely injured her knee during training and had to retire from the show
and so it went on.
Anyone remember the game Powerball, where gladiators/contestants were put inside huge mesh balls like hamsters and when Warrior pushed so hard he popped is knee socked out ?!
All for entertainment !
A link to the story …
It has also been suggested that Long and ultra-long distance runners cause damage to the heart in later life…I don’t know where they got that idea from…
Didn’t realise it was a TV show - thought it was someone from the Russell Crowe film.
Nothing wrong with keeping fit or with private yachts, Floydy, but croissants ? Yuk! 
That’s just not breakfast in my book…
Sorry Floydy,I think you have taken the information from a poster personally,…imho,…there is nothing wrong in exercise,but when it’s to the excess,like these silly gladiators have done,yes I believe it was for entertainment ,…and money,only they didn’t seem to realise the damage they were doing to their bodies at the time,for some if you are hungry enough for fame,many will just about do anything,Imo,I had a lovely personal trainer,who ran every day,on the pavement,…she has had nothing but knee problems,also her doctor told her,that if she kept it up,she would end up in a wheelchair,…imo,our bodies are not built to take that physical amount of exercise,…I would never run long distance either,it’s a mugs game,but that is just my opinion.
Also I would just like to add,some of the guys at the gym,love the attention their muscles get from the girls,which is fine.same with the girls,they love the attention their toned bodies and bums get from the meni should know,I used to be one of them,
Edit to add,sorry to hear about the guy in hospital ,I sincerely hope he recovers soon.
Errmmmm! Sorry Pauline, but I’ve just passed the forty year mark being a long and ultra long distance runner…And at sixty eight there’s nowt’ wrong with me…
Still going strong…
[QUOTE=OldGreyFox;1678175…And at sixty eight there’s nowt’ wrong with me…
Still going strong…:-D[/QUOTE]
And long may it continue!
I voiced my opinion,I have read so much about long distant/marathon running,I also know the damage it can cause,
Correct me if I am wrong,OGF,but didn’t I read on my heart thread,that you had,had a few heart attacks?
Out of curiosity,do you run everyday?
I’m curious old bean. You had heart treatment didn’t you?
What was the cause of that if I may ask?
Attaboy Bob. You tell 'em 
According to The Sun he also suffered a massive rupture in his shoulder and can’t raise his arm.
Plus
“He was rushed to hospital before Christmas with severe acute pancreatitis - a cripplingly painful condition where your pancreas swells up - and needs two new hips”
Also says he’s knacked his immune system which would explain the lung infections:
“Michael, who lives in St Mary’s Bay, Kent, described how he “destroyed” his immune system with arthritis after taking on brutal workouts.”
Doesn’t look good really.
All for entertainment and stardom
If all that were not enough he apparently also has arthritis in his spine too !
The man is a physical wreck. I guess the famous words from the great film Bladerunner run true:
"Tyrell: The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long "
A man such as Cobra should have paid more attention to his technique rather than stuffing himself full of roids.
Oh That!..
Yes you are quite correct Pauline, back in 2004 after a career of long and Ultra-long distance running my training was interrupted by an untimely Heart Attack…I actually flatlined twice as I was rushed to hospital. Within six weeks I was back on the road again doing short slow jogging, and after having stents fitted later that year I resumed full training and returned to running Half Marathons. Unfortunately, due to family pressure (an attempt to keep me alive) I was banned from running full marathons and forty mile fell runs…
Due to a faulty stent I suffered a further Heart Attack in 2014, but returned to running later that same year, however! I’ve now been banned from running half marathons…
So ten miles is my maximum distance these days.
I’ve always run three times per week with a long run on Sunday, in my marathon running days it would consist of an eight miler on Tuesdays, a ten miler on Thursdays and fifteen or twenty miles on Sundays, but this would be increased when training for a long fell running event…
Recently because I’ve reduced my mileage to five miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ve put an extra five miler in on Fridays and continue running up to ten miles on Sundays…
Hi Realist, when at 53 years old, I was admitted to hospital during my first Heart Attack I had low blood pressure, slow heart rate, cholesterol of 5.5 and weighed just ten stones.
My Dad had also suffered a heart attack when he was young, so hereditary connections were suggested. I had also been a smoker for thirty five years prior to my attack. After an angiogram revealed that just one small group of arteries were responsible, and the rest were in very good condition, they said it was the years of running that had saved my life, and I would make a good recovery, which I have.
Needless to say, I haven’t smoked one cigarette since that Sunday morning back in May 2004 and although several previous attempts to stop smoking failed, I have never even given it a second thought since…A recent full body medical scanning has revealed that I have indeed got the body of a 53 year old…
So you keep saying,Realist!..
Floydy,I agree about the roids,…you definitely have a point there,imo,
