Oklahoma news anchor Julie Chin suffered what she says was the “beginning of a stroke” while reporting the news on live TV over the weekend.
Chin, who works for NBC affiliate KJRH, was reporting on the attempted launch of NASA’s Artemis I rocket Saturday morning when she began to stumble over her words.
Video of the incident shows her saying “I’m sorry, something is going on with me this morning, and I apologize to everybody,” before passing over to the station’s meteorologist.
In a lengthy Facebook post shared Sunday, Chin explains that “the episode seemed to have come out of nowhere” and that she “felt great before our show.”
As the broadcast started, she says she began to lose vision in one eye and her hand and arm went numb.
“Then, I knew I was in big trouble when my mouth would not speak the words that were right in front of me on the teleprompter. If you were watching Saturday morning, you know how desperately I tried to steer the show forward, but the words just wouldn’t come,” Chin wrote.
Quick-thinking colleagues called 911 and Chin was taken to hospital where she underwent “all sorts of tests.”
“At this point, doctors think I had the beginnings of a stroke, but not a full stroke. There are still lots of questions, and lots to follow up on, but the bottom line is I should be just fine,” she assured readers.
Chin went on to share important information she’s learned since her ordeal, referencing the BE FAST acronym that can help identify the onset of a stroke.
The BE FAST letters stand for: balance, eyes, face, arms, speech, time and terrible headache.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada urges people to pay careful attention to the FAST symptoms, as a quick response to these symptoms can make a difference in stroke treatment and care.
The foundation says that nine-in-10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for stroke or heart disease, but that close to 80 per cent of premature stroke and heart disease can be prevented through healthy living.
Smoking, unhealthy food habits, stress, excessive substance abuse, unhealthy weight and a sedentary lifestyle are all risk factors that can increase the chance of stroke. Diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure are also conditions that are considered risk factors for stroke.
According to the latest data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada, and more than 62,000 strokes occur each year.
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