Comment Tulsa anchor Julie Chin was in the middle of a live broadcast Saturday morning when she said she suddenly lost partial vision in one eye. Then one of her hands started to go numb. And, when it was her turn to speak, the right words didn’t come. To viewers, the KJRH anchor stumbled over her words and appeared confused as she tried to announce a local event connected to a delayed NASA rocket launch to the moon. “Sorry,” he said, smiling at the camera. “Something is wrong with me this morning and I apologize to everyone.” She cut the cameras away from her and to a weatherman. The next day, Chin said in a Facebook post that doctors believe she had experienced the “beginnings of a stroke.” “The episode seemed to come out of nowhere,” he explained, adding that the test results were “coming back great.” “There are still a lot of questions and a lot to follow up on, but the bottom line is I should be fine,” wrote the veteran TV journalist. Chin is one of several broadcasters experiencing an on-air health emergency. During her live show in 2017, Wendy Williams suddenly turned pale and collapsed on stage, returning minutes later to explain that the Statue of Liberty costume she wore for a Halloween-themed episode was too hot. Williams later said she had passed out. Wendy Williams passed out on live TV and it was terrifying That same year, Philadelphia news anchor Gray Hall was rushed to the hospital after he began slurring his words on air. Tests showed Hall had a cyst on his brain and the anchor underwent emergency surgery. And in 2011, Los Angeles reporter Serene Branson became incoherent during live coverage of the Grammys. Doctors said she was suffering from a complex migraine, and Branson told the Los Angeles Times that the episode left her feeling “terrified” and confused. Strokes usually happen when blood flow to the brain is interrupted or when a blood vessel bursts or leaks and affects a person’s brain tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms may include paralysis or numbness in the face, loss of vision in one or both eyes, difficulty walking, or difficulty speaking and understanding language. Chin wrote on Sunday that what happened to her “wasn’t a full stroke.” Before the show he felt great, he wrote, but several minutes after the newscast, “things started happening.” She described a change in vision and numbness in one of her hands and arms. “Right then, I knew I was in big trouble when my mouth wouldn’t say the words that were right in front of me on the teleprompter,” she wrote. Her colleagues at the NBC affiliate immediately called 911, she said. “If you watched Saturday morning,” he added, “you know how desperately I tried to steer the show forward, but the words just wouldn’t come out.” After the ordeal, Chin said she learned that it may not be obvious when someone is having a stroke, but acting quickly could save a life. He shared an acronym for recognizing symptoms and remembering to act. “BEFAST” stands for loss of balance, vision changes, facial droop, arm weakness and difficulty speaking, with the last letter standing for time to call 911, Chin wrote. Similar acronyms have been shared by the Mayo Clinic and the American Stroke Association. Chin began her journalism career working for various stations in New York and North Carolina before moving to KJRH in Tulsa, where she began covering weather. She is now a reporter and anchor of the station’s weekend news show. In response to viewers asking about Chin’s condition, KJRH shared Chin’s Facebook post on Monday. “We wish her the best on her road to recovery and a well-deserved rest,” the station wrote. Chin wrote on Sunday that she will undergo more tests but will be back on the air in a few days. “Thank you all for loving and supporting me so well,” she wrote.
