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AMANDA HUBER SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON JON 'BRODIE LEE' HUBER'S PASSING - AEW UNRESTRICTED PODCAST RECAP

I sat down this morning to listen to AEW’s Unrestricted podcast with Amanda Huber, the wife of the late Jon “Brodie Lee” Huber, as she asked AEW for a forum to discuss his passing as well to dispel rumors.  I would highly advise listening to the podcast as it’s most important to hear this story from Huber  herself but I will break down some highlights.

Amanda stated that Jon began to experience a shortness of breath the same day he recorded his own appearance on the AEW podcast in mid-October.  That same day, he was unable to finish a workout on his Peloton Bike and was immediately concerned about COVID-19 as it was unusual for him.  He had a normal temperature and no symptoms that are connected with COVID - no loss of sense of smell or taste.  The next day, he had the same experience and was unable to finish a workout.

The next day was a Dynamite taping.  Jon told AEW’s Dr. Sampson about his issues.  He tested negative for COVID but the decision was made not to let him into the bubble so Jon traveled back home and was not at the event.  At this point, he quarantined away from Amanda and their children.

The next day, he developed a high fever and had no appetite.  He went and got a COVID nasal swab.  The results came back three days later and were negative for COVID.  While he was awaiting those results, Jon went to an urgent care center and was diagnosed with Bronchitis and allergies.  He disagreed and stated that he felt as if he had pneumonia at this point.  Amanda stated he was given allergy meds as well as an oral steroid (likely to help his lungs get over infection) as well as antibiotics.

By Sunday, the day he received the negative COVID test result, Amanda stated Jon’s face looked sunken in and he was in distress.  He went to a hospital and needed to lean on her as he walked and refused a wheelchair.  His fever had broken by this point but his oxygen level was 52, less than even someone having an asthma attack.  He was immediately placed on oxygen but again tested negative for COVID.

Jon was moved to intensive care and depending on the day, his health would improve and then fall backwards.  Several from AEW started to reach out to offer help including Chris Harrington but she initially turned it down, partially to keep the issues from spreading as gossip and ending up in the public eye.

On Halloween, Jon’s doctor told her he needed to be moved to another hospital.  She decided upon the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as there were connections to the city via AEW.   At this point, Jon was going to potentially need a lung transplant and would need to immediately go on a ECMO Machine, which mechanically keeps the lungs and heart operating properly while a patient is put under.  Her doctors advised her to go home and pack a bag and return and not to see him as they worried she could upset Jon and make things worse for him as she was obviously so upset (and understandably so).

Huber told a story that their son Brodie Jr. wanted to be Orange Cassidy for Halloween, which she admitted she thought was silly because no one would know who he was dressed as.  Jon told her “Go buy him a f****ing denim jacket”, which were among his last words to his wife.  She noted (and on a personal note, this totally wrecked me listening) that they were really looking forward to Halloween because it would be the first one where Jon would actually be able to be with his family for the day instead of on the road.

On Halloween Day, Amada told Brodie Jr. that Jon was going to another hospital where they were going to do their best to take care of him and noted she didn’t want to lie to him and tell him everything would be OK as they couldn’t know and this was a serious situation.  She took photos of the kids in costume to show Jon when she arrived back at the hospital but received a call that he had been intubated after crashing as she started to prepare a travel bag.

Amanda described some of the worst things one could ever go through, discussing that when she returned to his room Jon had a tube down his throat and his room looked “trashed” from all the activity.  That night at 1 AM, they boarded a plane and were flown to Jacksonville.  

On 11/1, Jon was placed on the ECMO Machine and prepared for surgery at the Mayo Clinic with the expectation that he would need to undergo a lung transplant.  

She visited the AEW locker room at the Full Gear 2020 PPV and told the locker room about the situation and how dire it was and asked them to please, even though it was pro wrestling to keep Jon’s health issues private, which everyone did.   She said she did so in order to “guilt them” into keeping quiet.  I can tell you that there are people I speak to daily in the company and not one person even hinted at anything until I was contacted and told Huber had just announced Jon’s passing.

Amanda also noted that AEW covered her entire hotel cost, even though she initially insisted on paying for it herself.

Jon again tested negative for COVID.  He began to show signs of improving and had been removed from the ventilator after undergoing a tracheotomy.  He was awake but could not speak due to the tracheotomy but would mouth words and communicate non-verbally.  He began physical therapy and was back on oxygen.

In late November, Jon had a panic attack, which is when Amanda noted things began to get worse and in December they continued to get worse.  She said that she knew there would be setbacks as he recovered but it just kept going in the wrong direction.  The idea of a lung transplant was broached again and at this point she was told it was either the transplant or “end of life care.”

Jon developed an infection in his lungs around the middle of December.

Amanda noted that around this time, Chris Jericho had Brodie Jr. flown to Jacksonville to attend a Dynamite taping and spend time with the locker room.  She said that other than Jon coming home, it was what Brodie Jr. wanted the most for his birthday.

Amanda kept waiting to hear about whether Jon would receive the transplant but heard nothing, which she correctly assumed to be that he would not.  He had been turned down by transplant doctors but she noted one doctor kept wanting to try every potential option and didn’t give up on Jon.

They continued to get turned down by transplant centers and waited for news from others.  She would check in every other day with the hospital but didn’t want to speak to them otherwise as she didn’t want to hear bad news.  She went home to be with her children for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, a doctor she didn’t like called and told her they needed to begin “end of life care” and told her Jon's heart and kidneys were failing.  She refused to leave her kids for Christmas even though she knew that meant there was a huge chance she might not be there with Jon when he passed.  On an aside, at this point I just started crying for this family and I said a prayer for them.  No matter what you believe in, I hope you take a moment right now and do that as well.

The family tried to have as much of a normal Christmas day as possible with her brother-in-law and sister-in-laws coming into Tampa.  Christmas night, they left the children with her mother-in-law and drove to Jacksonville.  She called Cody Rhodes and Big E and asked if they would be with her when she had to tell Brodie Jr. that his father passed.  Big E is his favorite wrestler and Cody had been through his own father passing away - and had remained close with Amanda through everything the family went through.

On 12/26, Jon Huber passed away.  His official cause of death was listed as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  Idiopathic is described as “relating to or denoting any disease or condition which arises spontaneously or for which the cause is unknown.”  They hope the autopsy, which they do not yet have the results for, could provide reasons as to what happened.  Pulmonary Fibrosis is scarring of the lungs that prevents the lungs from working properly.  

Amanda noted that Big E, Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Peyton Royce, Tyler Breeze and AEW’s Megha (legal dept.) and Margaret (PR dept.) all came to say goodbye to Jon.  Amanda has talked in great detail on her Instagram about Megha and Margaret’s support through the entire ordeal.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, there was no official service for Jon.  

Amanda stated that AEW’s Celebration show was his funeral.  

She stated that she gets really angry if someone claims that AEW is exploiting or using her family commenting that they are going above and beyond to let her eight year old son have a connection to his father through living out his favorite thing in the world.  She also noted that she requested to come on the podcast to clear the air on her husband’s passing.

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