Chronic pain can be unbearable to live with. Oz actor and Allstate Insurance spokesperson, Dean Winters, has been suffering from chronic neuropathy and pain for over a decade. In 2009, Dean had a bacterial infection that caused him to go into cardiac arrest. He developed gangrene and had to have two toes and half of his thumb amputated. Dean has since had at least ten surgeries. He told his story to Page Six:
“I haven’t taken a step since 2009 without being in pain,” the 57-year-old actor exclusively told Page Six. “I’ve got neuropathy on, you know, on a whole different level where I can’t feel my hands and my feet. But if I stepped on a pebble, it’s like I go through the roof.”
In June of that year, Winters contracted a bacterial infection and went into cardiac arrest for over two minutes during an ambulance ride across Central Park. Paramedics revived him, but he suffered through multiple operations and gangrene, which resulted in the amputation of two toes and half of a thumb.
“It’s a very weird dichotomy. It’s like, it’s very hard to figure out. Nothing you can do about it,” he said. “I’ve been sucking it up because, you know, the alternative is not a place where I want to be.”
It’s crazy if you look in the Webster dictionary, the Old English definition of the word ‘mayhem’ is ‘one with amputations.’”
I have suffered from chronic pain since my time in the military and it is debilitating. I could not imagine having amputations and phantom pain neuropathy. I love watching Dean as Mayhem in the Allstate commercials, he has some of the best comedic timing. Dean will always be that douchebag guy in Sex and the City. I was heartbroken to learn about the pain and suffering Dean has been going through. I can’t believe that some random bacteria infection wreaked so much havoc on his life. I also can’t believe he coded for two minutes. That must have been scary. The fact that he continues to work despite the constant pain is a testament to the love of his craft. The only thing that gets me out of bed despite my back, neck and joint pain is my love of photography. I send Dean all the love. Hopefully, science will find a breakthrough for those of us who suffer from chronic pain.
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