Larl Recounted How He Ended Up in the Hospital in Critical Condition Before The International

Denis “Larl” Sigitov revealed that he was hospitalized with complications from appendicitis shortly before the start of The International 2025.

The player shared this story on YouTube.

“I went to a restaurant, some guys recognized me, gave me gifts, and I ate a lot—I just decided to relax and have a meal. They gave me all kinds of little cakes or something like that. I went home and thought, ‘What the heck?’ Something wasn’t right; I had pain in my right side.

I thought I’d just overeaten. A couple of days went by, and the pain just kept getting worse. I didn’t go to the doctor at first, but on the third day I realized something was wrong, so I called an ambulance. They told me, ‘You have appendicitis; you need to go to the hospital—they’ll take care of it quickly. It’s simple.’ The doctor even said it would be an easy procedure.

When I arrived, I had to wait a long time for the surgery. The doctor came in and said, “The surgery went well, but there’s a problem.” If it isn’t removed in time, the appendix could rupture, leading to an infection of the internal organs.

He added, “You’ll have to stay here for about a month. We can’t discharge you because you could die. We need to keep an eye on you.” Well, it’s not like I’d die right away, but the doctor said I could die if it wasn’t monitored.

It was tough. It was my first time in a situation like this. I have a TI in two months, and I can’t train—I can’t even stand up without feeling excruciating pain right away. But I need to walk, since it helps me recover faster. When you’re young, you just need to walk.

I messaged DKLana. The main problem was that I didn’t tell the team anything, since I thought it would all be over quickly. Everyone said appendicitis was no big deal. Three days in bed—and you’re as good as new. What’s the problem?

Ruslana and I tried to sort things out with the doctors, because I was in a public hospital—it was a nightmare. A place you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Then I transferred to a private clinic—everything was fine there. The main problem was that toxins from the appendicitis had spread to other organs. They had to be flushed out too, which required another surgery. It was done under anesthesia, so it wasn’t that bad.

It wasn’t the most complicated surgery, but I had issues with my temperature. I felt fine all day, but at night the problems would start. The doctor told me, “You have toxins in your organs; we need to flush them out immediately. If we don’t do this, you’ll have problems.” The next day, they took me in for surgery. You’re naked—well, you’re wearing a gown, but it’s not exactly comfortable. They wheeled me into the operating room, and there was a man and five or six women. I thought, “What the hell? Why is this happening to me?” I was a little flustered, but then I thought, “Whatever—they’re doctors.”

A month after all those surgeries and my recovery, I was discharged. I tried to play one or two games, but I couldn’t sit at all. The doctors told me I couldn’t sit—I had to walk more, since sitting puts pressure on the stitches. I had to stick to a diet. It was really hard. We trained for The International for three or four weeks. I hadn’t played Dota at all before that—I’d only watched.

It was a terrible tournament for me. I couldn’t play much; I had health issues. Even during matches, I sometimes felt sick—I just couldn’t play normally. It was tough. We played pretty well, but then we faced the Falcons—they crushed us.”

According to Larl, due to his lengthy recovery, he practically missed the preparation for The International 2025. The Team Spirit midlaner didn’t return to full training until just three or four weeks before the tournament, and he had barely played Dota 2 at all prior to that. Sigitov admitted that his health issues prevented him from performing at his usual level even during official matches. As a result, The International 2025 turned out to be an extremely unsuccessful tournament for him, and Team Spirit was eliminated after losing to Team Falcons.

As a reminder, Denis “Larl” Sigitov previously spoke about the difficulties he faced after joining Team Spirit’s Dota 2 roster.