Philly Radio: WIP's Big Daddy Graham Vows To Return

More than a week after he underwent emergency surgery, Philly radio icon and longtime WIP 94.1 FM  host Big Daddy Graham is moving out of intensive care and into rehab, but remains paralyzed from the waist down.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Graham, 66, underwent surgery July 23, two days after checking into the hospital due to issues with his spinal cord. According to Graham, the surgery was successful, but he’s been left paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors have told him there is hope he will be able to walk again, but the comedian and sports talker faces a long road to recovery.

Big Daddy Graham

Despite that, Graham has remained upbeat, both in the hospital and on Twitter, where he’s cracked jokes about his condition when he’s had the strength to pick up his phone.

WIP will continue to use an assortment of fill-in hosts to cover Graham’s overnight radio show.

“He’s going to be OK. He’s just got a big struggle ahead of him, and he needs our support,” WIP Morning Show host Angelo Cataldi, whose friendship with Graham goes back more than 20 years, told listeners Thursday.

Graham joined WIP in 1997. He’s largely spent the last two decades as the station’s overnight host and became known for the wild stunts he would perform during Wing Bowl.

He has battled through a number of health problems in recent years — major back surgery, throat cancer, a staph infection, and a 2016 episode in which he was hospitalized after hiccuping for 41 hours straight.