Back in November, Al Roker, the beloved weatherman on The Today Show, suddenly went missing without any explanation. A week later, he finally shared what happened. He was hospitalized.
He was able to go home from the hospital in time to spend Thanksgiving with his family, and he was hopeful at the time that he would be able to be at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting, but instead, he ended up returning to the hospital.
Eventually, Roker went home again, but he was still absent from TODAY, only making one virtual appearance giving an update on his health and his life at home as the holidays approached.
Today, January 6, 2023, Roker finally returned to TODAY in person after being gone for two months. As he sat next to his co-workers with his wife by his side, he said, “My heart is just bursting.” He added, “I’m running on adrenaline. I’m just thrilled to be here.”
Roker’s wife, Deborah Roberts, shared details about her husband’s health over the past couple of months. She called him “a living, breathing miracle.” She added, “Al was a very, very, very sick man, and I think most people did not know that.”
It turns out that his condition was mysterious to the doctors at first. She explained, “He was a medical mystery for a couple weeks, and it was the most tumultuous, frightening journey we have ever been on.” She added, “Al went through a lot of tests” and even had a “major, major surgery.”
This time was scary for Roberts. She wasn’t sure if Al was going to survive, but one day at the hospital Al said something that helped her know he would be okay. She said that he started talking about wanting to make turkey for Christmas. That’s when she knew he’d be ok.
Then, Roker told his side of the story. He said, “I had no idea how bad off I was. I thought I was doing pretty good.”
Then he explained the surgery he had in more detail. He explained, “I had two complicating things. I had blood clots that they think came up after I had Covid in September.” In addition, he had internal bleeding. He said, “I lost half my blood.” He explained, “Two bleeding ulcers. Had to resection the colon, take out my gallbladder. Redo my duodenum.” He joked, “I went in for one operation, I got four free.”
Roker praised the doctors, nurses and medical staff for their hard work. In addition to the medical team, Roker also thanked his friends, family and co-workers for their support.
Roberts added one more thing she is thankful for – prayer. She said, “You also had prayer. I’m telling you, there was a prayer circle like you wouldn’t believe.” She explained that even strangers would stop her to tell her “I’m praying for your husband.” Roker added, “The prayer, you could feel it.”
Hoda Kotb asked if Roker or Roberts have learned any big life lessons from this experience. Roberts shared that she learned “patience.” Roker added, “each of my doctors said, if I wasn’t in the shape that I was in, this might have been a different outcome.” He credited “getting out and walking” to making a huge difference in his health.
