FREMONT, Ohio — UFC Hall of Famer and former champion Mark Coleman is awake and responsive as he is recovering from inhaling smoke from a house fire earlier this week.
In a new video posted by his daughter Kenzie, Coleman is seen sitting up in his hospital bed smiling as his two daughters walk into the room.
“God is good. Miracles do happen. Our dad is breathing on his own. We want to thank you all for the love and support from the bottom of our hearts,” Kenzie wrote in the post.
Coleman has been hospitalized since Tuesday after he saved his parents from a house fire in the Toledo area. Kenzie said that a dog named Hammer woke her father up with his barking.
Coleman returned to the home several times to get his parents out of the blaze. He also went back in to save Hammer. The dog did not survive despite Coleman’s efforts.
The former champion was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and was listed in critical condition.
In the Facebook video, Coleman hugged Kenzie and his other daughter Morgan.
“I am the happiest man in the world. Sweet God, I’m so lucky. I can’t believe my parents are alive. I had to make a decision because I went out of my room and got to the door and it was already horrible. I couldn’t breathe. I almost had to go outside. I went back and got [my parents], I can’t believe it. I got them, but I couldn’t find Hammer.”
Coleman, from Fremont, was UFC’s first heavyweight champion in 1997 when he defeated Dan Severn. He won 16 of 26 fights over his 14-year career and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coleman was an amateur wrestler before his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career, winning an NCAA title at Ohio State in 1988 and competing in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Morgan has organized a gofundme.com site for her father with a photo of him in a hospital bed connected to monitors and other medical necessities. As of Thursday afternoon, the site had raised over $69,000.