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On the morning of December 10, Luigi Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s outlet in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and has been identified as a “strong person of interest” in the December 4 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.
Amid his arrest and identity becoming public, a claim has surfaced online that Mangione reportedly suffered a back injury a while back surfing in Hawaii and underwent surgery which changed his life. Barstool Sports podcast host Jack Mac took to X and shared:
“Spoke with a source that had a lot of friends that went to high school with Luigi Mangione. What keeps coming up is a back surgery that 'changed everything' for him and he went 'absolutely crazy.' Checks out with his Goodreads history and the X-ray in his header.”
The post continued:
“Back injury happened when he was surfing in Hawaii. Surgery didn’t go great. Moved to Japan. His contact with family stopped about a year ago. Recently the family reached out to his friends from high school asking if they had info on him. So, he’s been pretty aloof for a while. This checks out with his IG tagged photos as there were a lot of posts from family through 2023, none recently.”
Mac’s post was accompanied by an X-ray image as well as a screenshot of Goodreads history, both seemingly tracing back to Luigi Mangione. The Goodreads history comprised of books including Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill and Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, among others.
In the wake of this post, netizens have theorized that the suspect suffered a “botched” back surgery.
For instance, X user @shapetw0 assessed the viral X-ray and claimed Luigi might be suffering from a condition called Spondylolisthesis. The user shared a screenshot of Luigi Mangione’s alleged X profile alongside his own X-ray from a similar back surgery.
“#luigi had a below-par fusion for Spondylolisthesis at the L5 vertebrae- surgeon didn’t pull back L5 to realign spine (there could be reasons here). from my experience with the same surgery, he likely had a laundry list of nerve pain in relation to it (my X-ray for reference),” the post was captioned.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Spondylolisthesis is an ailment in which one of the bones in the spine slips out of alignment and pushes down on the vertebra below it. If the slip is more, experts often advise surgical options. Otherwise, symptoms like stiffness and pain can be dealt with non-surgically.
Many others had similar theories on the platform.
“He has significant anterior slippage of L5 on S1 (spondylolisthesis) vertebral bodies after posterior spinal fusion. This can be seen with so-called ‘Failed Back Syndrome,’ which is severe, persistent low back pain after surgery, frequently requiring continuous opioid pain meds,” a person wrote.
“If this film belongs to #luigi #mangione #uhcshooter he might have suffered from lumbar spondylolisthesis, which appears here to be still present. One could speculate that he had chronic low back and leg pain as a result. Many young people with this condition…” another person wrote.
“Here is an x-ray of the CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s back. Appears to be spondylolisthesis - notice the anterior displacement of L5 in relation to S1. How common is it for a patient to have this degree of displacement after surgery?” a netizen asked.
“I've been living with spondylolisthesis since I was 16, & I'm in my early 30's now. That's half my life. It also affects my hips & neck. I'm in pain every single day. I haven't had spinal fusion surgery. NONE of that is an excuse for Luigi Mangione to commit murder. Wtf,” another netizen wrote.
Social media users continued to come up with similar theories. Some claimed the botched back surgery pushed Luigi Mangione to reportedly take the life of Brian Thompson, as he was seemingly frustrated with healthcare costs and alleged lack of insurance coverage.
Others with similar medical experiences defended the suspect and shared how such chronic back pain can be life-altering.
Exploring further what spondylolisthesis means in the wake of Luigi Mangione's botched back surgery theories
Spondylolisthesis can be defined as a forward displacement of a vertebra over a lower vertebra, most commonly due to a congenital defect or injury. For the unversed, the human spine is made up of 33 stacked bones or vertebrae that are connected but move when a person changes their posture or shifts the body.
However, when one is diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, one of the vertebrae moves more than it should, slips out of its usual spot, and presses on the vertebra below it. As a result, the surrounding nerves feel the pressure and can induce lower back pain and other symptoms such as leg pain, back stiffness, walking/ standing difficulty, and numb or weak sensation in the feet.
There are six kinds of spondylolisthesis, including degenerative, congenital, isthmic, traumatic, pathological, and postsurgical. Spinal X-rays, MRI, and CT scans are some of the techniques used to diagnose the condition, which is often treated surgically or with medicines.
Physical therapy, corticosteroids, rest, and wearing back braces are some of the other ways to keep spondylolisthesis under control.
All you need to know about Luigi Mangione's alleged medical condition
On Monday, Luigi Mangione was taken into custody from Pennsylvania for the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson. He was officially charged with murder at a Manhattan state court among other charges including three counts of weapons possession and one count of forgery.
The 26-year-old is currently held without bail and is expected to be extradited to New York soon. Mangione is a Maryland native who had been a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii with no criminal past.
R.J. Martin, founder of a co-living space in Hawaii called Surfbreak, told the Honolulu Civil Beat that Luigi Mangione stayed at his community for six months in 2022. Martin added that the accused suffered from chronic pain in the back, which was a “misaligned vertebrae that would pinch” his spinal cord.
A representative of Martin also told The Times that Luigi’s back injury and pain reportedly affected his romantic life and his passion for surfing. Aaron Cranston, a former classmate of Mangione, also shared with the outlet that he received a forwarded text earlier this year as Luigi’s family was seemingly trying to locate him.
Notably, law enforcement found a manifesto that reportedly revealed Luigi Mangione’s grievances against the healthcare and insurance industry, alongside a 3D-printed pistol and 3D-printed silencer found in his backpack.
On the morning of December 4, around 6:45 am local time, Brian Thompson was on his way to an investor’s conference when he was shot outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
He was rushed to the Mount Sinai West Hospital in critical condition where he was later pronounced dead. NYPD described it as a “premeditated, pre-planned, targeted” attack.
