Did Barry Melrose have to retire from ESPN after a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis?
Whenever a celebrity is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I’m usually asked the following questions:
Did you hear about___ having Parkinson’s? What do you think about ___ having Parkinson’s?
Those are the easy ones. Usually, I have heard before someone breaks the news to me. Not always, but I do have a sort of Spidey-sense about these things. My answer to the second question always is I’m saddened and sorry to hear it.
But, occasionally there’s a third situation with this. Sometimes an announcement comes that someone is forced to retire because of their Parkinson’s diagnosis. The main examples of this are Linda Ronstadt and Neil Diamond. On Tuesday, we received word that former NHL player, coach and broadcaster Barry Melrose was retiring from his ESPN job because of his PD diagnosis.
This leads to another question that I’m occasionally asked:
Did ___ really have to retire?
This one is a lot trickier to answer because every Parkinson’s case differs. The disease has many symptoms, and not everyone has the same thing. Many Parkinson’s patients continue to work for years after their diagnosis; while others have symptoms that are so debilitating that they have no other choice than to stop working.
I have no idea what symptoms Barry Melrose is dealing with or how bad they are. All we can do is respect his choice to focus on his health and spend time with his family.
I'm saddened and sorry to hear Barry Melrose has Parkinson’s Disease. I wish him health and peace.