Heavy Hallmark Channel alum Greg Vaughan has been hospitalized in Colorado
Actor Greg Vaughan‘s spring break ski trip with his sons has been sidelined by a medical crisis. The “Days of Our Lives” star and Hallmark Channel alum revealed via Instagram on March 14, 2024, that he’d been hospitalized with a severe case of altitude sickness.
What was meant to be a fun “Father & Sons Colorado Spring Break” turned into a nightmare for Vaughan, 50, as he got increasingly sick after their first day of skiing.
“I was feeling somewhat tired after 1 day, experiencing shortness of breath climbing a few flights of stairs, wheezy, some congestion after some cold snowy conditions, and a headache developing,” he wrote on Instagram.
After eventually going to urgent care, Vaughan wrote that he was shocked to learn his
“Blood Oxygen was at 54% & my lungs were full of fluids!”
Here’s what you need to know:
Greg Vaughan Says He Felt Increasingly Bad on Skip Trip With His Boys
GettyGreg Vaughan at a “Days of Our Lives” event in November 2022
Vaughan, who’s been a regular on “Days of Our Lives” since 2012, intentionally kept himself hydrated during his first day, hoping that would keep him from feeling any ill effects of the change in altitude. So once he started feeling unwell, he wrote on Instagram, he did what he could to get a good night’s sleep.
Alongside two photos of himself in a hospital with an oxygen tube in his nose, Vaughan wrote, “I had (hydrated) all day, so into the night I drank a bottle of Pedialyte and NyQuil’d myself out to be ready to tackle BRECK w/the boys the next morning!”
But after a sleepless night, Vaughan decided to stay off the slopes for another day, much to his chagrin.
He explained, “Unfortunately, it was a night of tossing, turning, no sleep, coughing, dry heaving & my head felt like it was in a walnut cracker! Disappointedly, morning arrived & I had to tell my boys, plus our friends who just arrived, I was staying home to rest & be my best for our final days to come!”
But Vaughan, who last appeared on Hallmark in “Valentine’s Again,” said he “only got worse” as the day wore on and that he was “mentally spinning,” worried about having another hard night and missing a third day of skiing with his kids.
“I finally surrendered & went to urgent care and to my shock I learned that I was experiencing severe altitude sickness,” he wrote. “My Blood Oxygen was at 54% & my lungs were full of fluids! Blood oxygen, also known as oxygen saturation, represents the percentage of hemoglobin in your red blood cells that is carrying oxygen. Most people have an oxygen level of 95-100%….”
According to the American Lung Association, “altitude illness happens when your body struggles to adjust to lower oxygen levels which happen as you climb higher into the atmosphere.” For most, per the ALA, the condition only occurs at 8,000 feet or higher, but if it goes untreated, it can be life-threatening.
Acute mountain sickness usually occurs within the first day of someone reaching a high altitude, per the ALA, and symptoms typically include headache, nausea or lack of appetite, fatigue and weakness, lightheadedness, insomnia and shortness of breath — all things that Vaughan was experiencing.
Greg Vaughan Shows Fans His Oxygen Levels Are On the Rise
HallmarkGreg Vaughan and Alison Sweeney in Hallmark’s 2013 movie “Second Chances”
Four hours after Vaughan’s initial post, he posted on Instagram again with a photo of his Apple Watch showing he was up to 94 percent blood oxygen. For most people, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a normal range is 95 to 100 percent.
Vaughan wrote, “Well, 4hrs later, a couple of bags of IV & oxygen tank strapped to my face, I was told that I needed to immediately get off the mountain! 🤪”
Despite the medical advice, Vaughan didn’t want to ruin his kids’ spring break. So he decided to let them “enjoy their last day on the hill tops” and go back to their rental with a portable oxygen tank, adding that he’d provided “a good laugh for everyone.”
“My boys looked after their old man & fortunately they had friends on this trip,” he added.
“In all seriousness,” Vaughan wrote, “no matter your age, and all the times I’ve ⛷️ & 🏂 in my lifetime, Colorado Rockies is no joke! As they say, “ take a breathe and smell the roses!” That is truly something we need to remember & appreciate!”
Many of Vaughan’s friends in entertainment wrote to say how concerned they were about him, including his “Second Chances” Hallmark co-star, Alison Sweeney.
Sweeney wrote, “Oh no!!! I’m so sorry! That’s so scary!!!”
Fellow “Days” star Kristian Alfonso, who also appeared in Hallmark’s “The Chronicle Mysteries,” commented, “Thank god you went to urgent care 🙏😘 rest up , hopefully your on the mend xo”