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- How Did Mario Lopez Almost Lose His Life?
- What Else Did Mario Lopez’s Childhood Teach Him?
For an entire generation of people who were kids and teens during the ’90s, Saved by the Bell will always hold a special place in their hearts. The kind of show that fans felt connected to on a very personal level, it makes perfect sense that fans have loved listening to tribute podcasts like Zack to the Future and Go Bayside!
Sadly, Zack to the Future didn’t last nearly long enough and the Saved by the Bell reboot series that was better than it had any right to be also ended way too early. As sad as Saved by the Bell fans are to have lost that podcast and show, there was a recent loss in the community that hit much harder.
After Dustin Diamond was diagnosed with cancer in early-2021, the actor who brought Screech to life for many seasons passed away only weeks earlier. Way too young to be gone already, it is truly sad to think that Diamond may not have truly known how much joy his years playing Screech brought to so many fans’ lives.
One thing that a lot of Saved by the Bell fans may not realize is that one of the show’s other stars almost lost their life too. Even though Mario Lopez has always seemed so full of life, he revealed that he was extremely close to passing away when he was young.
How Did Mario Lopez Almost Lose His Life?
Thanks to the popularity of the short-lived podcast Zack to the Future, Saved by the Bell fans learned that Mark-Paul Gosselaar has a very different personality than his character Zack Morris. On the other hand, Mario Lopez had a lot more in common with his character A.C. Slater.
Just like Slater, it is abundantly clear that Lopez has always been very athletic based on his dancing skills and his obvious strength. On top of that, Lopez has talked about how much he loved working with the Reboot’s young cast just like his character obviously enjoyed being a coach.
As passionate Saved by the Bell fans will no doubt remember, it was clear that Slater’s dad was very strict. As it turns out, Lopez has that in common with his popular character as well since he has said his parents were “very strict and tough disciplinarians”.
However, unlike his character who had a single dad who was in the army, Lopez’s dad worked for the city and his mom was employed by a phone company. Before Lopez’s parents got those jobs, they immigrated to America from the country both were born in, Mexico.
According to a story that Lopez has revealed in the past, the famed actor and host owes his life to his Mexican heritage.
During appearances on at least two talk shows, Pardon My Take and The Queen Latifah Show, Lopez has told the same story about how he almost died as a baby.
“I was deathly ill. I was almost going to die. The priest came and blessed me. I had a condition where I wasn’t retaining any fluid or food. I couldn’t vomit. I lost half my weight. They couldn’t even find a vein to put the IV.”
Of course, it should go without saying that not being able to absorb food or liquids can be deadly at any age. However, Lopez’s description of how his illness affected him as a baby is hard to fathom.
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“I was born eight-and-a-half [pounds] and I then whittled down to four [pounds] because I couldn’t hold anything in.”
Everyone should be able to imagine how incredibly scary it would have been for Lopez’s parents to see him fading away. According to Lopez, his father did what he thought he needed to do to save his son.
“It sounds crazy, but my dad sort of kidnapped me from the hospital and took me to this bruja which is like a Mexican witch doctor down in Ensenada in Mexico.” “With a pluck of this and that, she squared me all the way.”
After Lopez learned that story, he clearly was affected by what he was told. After all, Lopez has said that event has left him more open to alternative medicine.
Most importantly, Lopez has said he learned a really important lesson from that story.
“The whole point of that experience is that you do whatever you need to do for your family. And now being a father myself, I totally get it and respect it.”
What Else Did Mario Lopez’s Childhood Teach Him?
In 2022, Mario Lopez was interviewed for So Mini Ways, Yahoo Life’s parenting series. During the resulting conversation, Lopez revealed a lot about his childhood including the fact that his parents couldn’t be around as much as they would have liked because they were busy working.
As a result, Lopez says he spent a lot of time at local Boys and Girls Clubs. “I was a hyper kid with the potential for a lot of trouble. But the clubs kept me out of trouble and occupied and had a major impact on my life.”
Fortunately for Lopez, his parents weren’t able to spend as much time with him as they wanted to, but they clearly were still a rock for them.
“I love them to death: They instilled a strong work ethic and my kids are growing up in a much different environment than I did, but I still want to instill that strong work ethic mentality in them and teach them to never forget where they came from and to always try to be better.”
Lopez also revealed in the interview that the way he was brought up had a huge effect on the father he is today.
“I would say I always try to come from a place of love but sometimes that’s tough love,” Lopez says. “But I think if you do that, you can’t go wrong. There’s no democracy in my house. I run a dictatorship and I’m Castro.”
