Ralphie May: Late Comedian Admitted Health Issues In Radio Interview Shortly Before His Death

Ralphie May was suffering from health issues in the days leading up to his passing, and he admitted as much in a radio interview exactly two weeks before he died from cardiac arrest at the age of 45.

TMZ reported on Saturday that May was supposed to be in the studio for the Albuquerque radio show Carlos & Kiki in the Morning on September 22, but was so ill at the time of his appearance that he had to call in instead. During the interview, the popular stand-up comedian admitted that he had been suffering from bronchitis for a number of days, and was feeling “worn down” from his hectic schedule, which included a run of eight shows in five states over a six-day period.

In quotes from the radio show published by the Daily Mail, May claimed that he was having a difficult time walking down the hotel hallway, and would have “(gotten) there tomorrow” if he had tried toughing it out and making it to the studio to be interviewed in person.

While Ralphie May was open about his health issues at the time, and feeling too ill to personally appear on Carlos & Kiki, he was still able to crack some jokes about his situation.

“The people at the Santa Ana Star are so sweet. They got me oxygen, they got everything backstage in case I need it, and it’s only my dumb pride that I don’t have it. I should have it, all the time, oh my God. I get light-headed. It’s the cheapest high I’ve ever had.”

Ralphie May is being remembered by his fellow comedians as a "kind, generous soul" after his sudden death: https://t.co/iqBenYyue2 pic.twitter.com/XmCcKEKaHI

— E! News (@enews) October 7, 2017

The above reports and this Facebook post from his official account paint a clear picture of Ralphie May’s health problems shortly before his death, and also tie in with a similar medical condition he dealt with right before he passed away. Although May’s official cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest, the comedian had reportedly dealt with pneumonia for several weeks, and had to cancel some of his appearances in the past month due to his condition.

As previously noted by the Inquisitr, Ralphie May was no stranger to health issues in his short life, starting with the enormous weight gain that started when he was 16-years-old and recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident. He reached a peak weight of 800 pounds, and while he had lost a lot of weight after undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2003, he had a serious case of pneumonia in 2011 while aboard a cruise ship. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the latter health scare resulted in his longest absence from the stage in what had then been 22 years in the stand-up comedy business.

[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]