Maria Menounos Quotes Rocky In Inspiring Post-Brain Surgery Video -- As Close Friend Gives An Update On The TV Personality's Recovery

Maria Menounos is a FIGHTER!
Back in June, the former E! News co-anchor underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for a golf-ball-size meningioma brain tumor.
The TV personality is on the mend from the surgery and currently on the road to recovery, and it’s all thanks to her never-give-up mentality inspired by a certain movie character!
Related: Why Maria Waited To Tell Her Parents About Brain Tumor
On Thursday, the 39-year-old shared a video of herself coming to after 7.5 hours of brain surgery. While she couldn’t see and could barely talk, the brunette stunner had a message for her family — an empowering quote from Rocky Balboa!
In the inspiring Instagram post, Menounos revealed how much Sylvester Stallone‘s character means to her, noting the quote from the 2006 film has gotten her through her “darkest hours.”
The clip shows a post-surgery Maria mumbling:

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

And forward is exactly where she’s headed!
Menounos’ close friend and colleague Roxy Striar gave an update on her recovery on The Tomorrow Show with Keven Undergaro, admitting:

“She is a little woozy and wobbly at this point, and that is to be expected, of course. She just had surgery recently.”

But those who personally know the TV personality, like Roxy, know she won’t be wobbling for long. And after watching her post-surgery speech, we have to agree!
Ch-ch-check out the touching post (below) along with an audio clip detailing Maria’s recovery.

Anyone who knows me well knows that @officialslystallone Rocky movies mean so much to me. This quote has gotten me through my darkest hours. This video was taken just after I got out of 7.5 hours of brain surgery. I couldn’t see bc the nerves dr black worked around got a little affected so just out of surgery my eyes were flickering and everyone was crying and this was my response. Truly it ain’t about how hard you hit… Ps here’s the full quote as I hope it can inspire you: Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa Fun fact: I asked for gonna fly now as my theme music going into surgery! @peopleewnetwork Happy birthday @officialslystalloneA post shared by maria menounos (@mariamenounos) on Jul 6, 2017 at 4:39pm PDT

[Image via MGM/Instagram.]