Channel 4 sports anchor OK after stroke

Local NBC sports anchor Jerod Smalley suffered a stroke last week, then discovered Saturday that he has a hole in his heart. Yet, the WCMH-TV (Channel 4) employee considers himself lucky. “I’m very fortunate in that the stroke was very quick,” he said, “and we took it seriously and were quick to seek medical attention.”

The event happened around midnight Thursday night. Smalley, 39, said he had just gone to bed when we lost feeling in the right side of his face and felt numbness and tingling in his right arm for about 20 seconds. His wife was with him at the time.

Tests at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital revealed that Smalley, of Worthington, had suffered a stroke and found evidence that he had suffered an earlier stroke, as well.

The cause was determined to be related to a small hole in the heart, known as a patent foramen ovale, or PFO. According to the American Heart Association, about 20 percent of Americans have a PFO.

Smalley said clotting caused the stroke. Surgeons plan to patch the hole through a non-invasive procedure that has not yet been scheduled.

Though he said he feels fine, Smalley plans to take this week off work.

Smalley, who has two sons, ages 12 and 10, was released from the hospital Sunday and spoke by phone from his home.

Doctors also discovered Smalley’s heart has a fifth chamber, a very rare condition which will not need to be repaired as it has not restricted blood flow. “I’m a living, breathing science experiment,” he joked. Smalley