“Blind Side” actor Quinton Aaron has revealed that he made a shocking discovery about his marriage while fighting for his life in the hospital after suffering a spinal stroke in January.
In an ABC News interview on Monday, the 41-year-old actor said his family told him the truth about his wife, Margarita DeLeon, after he woke up from a four-day coma in February. He learned that DeLeon was still legally married to another man.
“The entire time we were together, she told me she had been divorced for 10 plus years,” Aaron said. “She even told the person where we were getting married, ‘Oh yes, I have all the documents. I can email over to you the divorce decree.'”
Aaron admitted he had never seen DeLeon’s divorce decree, which he described as his “biggest mistake.” He said an attorney found records indicating DeLeon was still legally married to a man she had wed in 1992. His family then removed DeLeon from being able to make legal medical decisions on his behalf.
“If I had a chance to do it over, I would have done my due diligence. I would’ve definitely done a lot more research,” Aaron reflected.
DeLeon defended herself, telling ABC News that she didn’t know her divorce was not finalized. “When I told Quinton back in the hospital bed, I said to him, ‘Baby, this information that your family pulled up on me, you know, I wasn’t aware of it.’ I said, ‘This is what I found out. It is true,'” she recalled.
DeLeon’s estranged husband told ABC News that he similarly believed the filing had gone through years ago. He filed for divorce in February.
Aaron, best known for playing former NFL player Michael Oher in the 2009 Oscar-winning film, suffered a spinal stroke on January 26, which left him in a coma and on life support. He said he is currently undergoing intensive rehabilitation and has not yet regained his ability to walk.
“The doctors projected that it could take months, it could be a year, or up to a year,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t claim that time frame. I’ll be walking a lot sooner than you think.'”
