Julie Chin, presenter of a news channel in Oklahoma was live on air on Saturday morning when she suffered from a “the beginnings of a stroke.”
Chin was covering NASA’s attempted launch its their Artemis I rocket when she began to trip on her words.
The presenter was brought off air and rushed to hospital, she later revealed that doctors had suspected her of having a partial stroke.
Julie took to Facebook on Sunday morning to give an update on her health.
“First of all: Thank you. The prayers. The concern. The messages. The texts. The emails. The calls. I’m so grateful. And I’m so glad to tell you I’m OK.”
Chin describes the past days both before and after the stroke as a “mystery,” before stating that her doctors believe she “had the beginnings of a stroke live on the air Saturday morning”.
Julie highlights the importance of how quick a stroke can occur. She says: “The episode seemed to have come out of nowhere. I felt great before our show.
“However, over the course of several minutes during our newscast, things started to happen.”
She describes her first symptom of stroke being loss of “partial vision in one eye,” before losing sensation in her hand and arm.
“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.”
“My co-workers recognised the emergency situation unfolding and called 911. Anne, Jordan, TJ, and Kaden, I’m so grateful for your quick action. I’ve always said I work on the best team, and this is one more reason why.”
Chin moves on to thank her co-workers who recognised that this was an emergency situation and acted quickly, calling for emergency services.
Since the stroke Julie has been in hospital, undergoing tests to help understand what brought the episode on.
“I’m glad to share that my tests have all come back great” she says.
For now, the doctors believe that what Julie experienced was the beginnings of a stroke and not a full stroke.
“There is still lots of questions, and lots to follow up on, but the bottom line is I should be just fine.”
Chan states that the most important lesson she’s learnt from this terrifying experience, is that “It’s not always obvious when someone has a stroke, and action is critical.”
To help know the signs that someone is having a stroke, the FASTER acronym helps:
Face
Arm
Stability
Talking
Eyes
React
Julie finishes her message saying: “In a few days, I’ll be back at the desk sharing the stories I love with the community I love. Thank you all for loving me and supporting me so well.”
