Ty Pennington was taken to the hospital for an extreme medical treatment just days after walking the pink carpet at the Barbie LA premiere.
The well-liked handyman had a close call when he had a medical issue while being filmed in Colorado, teaching him the importance of paying attention to his body.
The appealing host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the attractive carpenter on Trading Spaces attended the glitzy movie premiere last week and posted pictures to Instagram.
Pennington wore a light grey suit, brimmed hat, and white collared shirt, and he looked sharp in the ensemble.
The 58-year-old celebrity was there to support HGTV’s Barbie’s Dreamhouse Challenge, which premiered on July 16. Pennington is a member of one of eight teams remaking a house into a replica of Barbie’s well-known pink mansion while swinging his neon pink sledgehammer.
“Transported to the world of @barbiethemovie last night! Thanks,” the star of Rock the Block captioned his Instagram post.
“Looking very smart. Can’t wait to see this challenge,” writes one fan, while designer Grace Mitchell, Pennington’s co-star added a comment saying, “Ty! Looking so spiffy!”
Only two days later, Pennington shared a gallery of images, the first of which showed him laying in a hospital bed. The joyous occasion quickly turned tragic. He told to the crowd that the throat abscess that had rendered him unable to breathe was being treated in the intensive care unit.
He wrote, “From the red carpet, to the ICU…this last week has been interesting! I’m okay now, still recovering.”
Pennington elaborated on his condition, saying that after seeing the premiere of Barbie on Sunday, he took a flight to Colorado on Monday to begin filming.
“Tuesday morning I woke up at 4am and could barely breathe. Turns out, that sore throat I’ve had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway. Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver. Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I was released from the ICU…A great reminder to LISTEN to your body when it’s telling you something.”
Messages of support from fans flooded in: “Sweet and wonderful Ty I am shocked and sad that you were so (ill). I have been following you since the olden days watching you on Trading Spaces. So glad you are on the mend. Yes listen to your body and don’t take so long gentlemen to get to a doctor.”
Friends from Trading Spaces also chimed in. “Glad you’re not dead, you ol’ coot,” said Paige Davis, the show’s former host. Genevieve Gorder, who was known for some of the show’s most jaw-dropping designs, added, “Babes!!!! I’m so happy you are okay, how terrifying.”
Developer Brian Kleinschmidt, who participated in the Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, added, “Here’s to a Speedo recovery! And no, that wasn’t a typo.”
Kleinschmidt was referring to a picture of a note that Pennington had scrawled while high on medicine: “Also, even through heavy sedatives it’s good to see I was still in the right frame of mind… (pic 4).” Pennington–whose sense of humor was not lost in the emergency–had written, “I need to put on my Speedo.”
Pennington seems to be doing well and has left the hospital.
We are overjoyed to learn that our favourite builder is recovering well after leaving the hospital.
We wish Ty Pennington the best of luck with his rehabilitation and hope he pays greater attention to his body so we can keep enjoying his talents!
