It's impossible to imagine a culinary world without orange Crocs, but there was a moment when Mario Batali and his famous footwear almost disappeared from it. On the opening night of one of his NYC restaurants, the chef suffered a massive brain aneurysm. And while the scare happened almost two decades ago, Batali just recently opened up about it on the podcast 10% Happier.
"I was at the dishwasher machine at Lupa, preparing for the wedding of my partner Jason Denton," he told host Dan Harris. All of a sudden, the voices of his staff became muffled, and he was left with a headache for the rest of the day. Batali finally went to the hospital that night and had to undergo emergency brain surgery the next morning.
To say he's lucky to be alive is an understatement: Five in ten people who suffer the same aneurysm die immediately. And of the five people who make it, four have permanent damage. That makes Batali part of the 10 percent who come out of the entire ordeal unscathed, at least physically.
Since then, the ponytailed chef's become an active supporter of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, posting to social media to raise awareness about the fact that one in 50 people has a brain aneurysm in their lifetime. He's also taken up meditation in order to lead a calmer, healthier life. It's a habit he picked up from Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, and one that helps him navigate days that involve running 28 restaurants, co-hosting a TV show, exercising, participating in charity functions, and being a good husband and father. All in those orange Crocs, of course.
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