TV news anchorman treated in hospital after stumbling over words
Rageh Omaar thanks viewers for their concern
ITV News presenter Rageh Omaar was rushed to hospital after becoming ill on air, station bosses have confirmed.
Omaar, 56, was presenting the channel’s News At Ten programme on Friday when he appeared to struggle with the autocue, stumbling over his words as he read the bulletins both at the start of the show and while introducing the final news segment.
Viewers expressed concern for the anchor’s health on X, formerly known as Twitter, with some criticising ITV for not taking him off air more quickly, while one ICU nurse claims to have contacted the broadcaster to warn them of possible stroke symptoms as early as 10 minutes into the programme.
While Omaar continued to the end of the show, saying “thank you and have a great weekend” as he signed off, ITV pulled the show from its scheduled re-run on ITV+1, informing viewers that the channel was temporarily unavailable.
The presenter was yesterday recovering at home.
In a statement shared by ITV News yesterday afternoon, international affairs editor Omaar said: “I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes, especially all the medical staff, all my wonderful colleagues at ITV News and our viewers who expressed concern. At the time, I was determined to finish presenting the programme. I am grateful for all the support I’ve been given.”
ITV News added: “We appreciate viewers of last night’s News at Ten were concerned about
Rageh Omaar’s wellbeing. Following medical treatment at hospital, he is now recovering at home with his family.
“We are wishing Rageh a speedy recovery and look forward to him being back on screen when he feels ready.”
Although no further details of Omaar’s condition or what happened to him during the broadcast have been released, difficulty speaking and slurred or slow speech – also known as dysarthria – can be a sign of a stroke.
Just last week, new analysis by the Stroke Association revealed that the number of strokes in the UK will increase more than 50% by 2035, with 151,000 people experiencing the serious, life-threatening medical condition.
Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive at the Stroke Association, said: “A stroke is when blood flow to the brain is stopped by a clot in an artery or by a bleed, causing the brain to start to die.
“For every minute stroke goes untreated, 1.9 million brain cells die.
“The FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) test was designed to help people spot stroke.
Symptoms to look out for are face weakness: has their mouth drooped? Arm weakness: can the person raise both arms? Speech problems: can they speak clearly and understand what you say? If someone has any single one of these symptoms, then it’s time to call 999.
“There are other signs of stroke, like sudden weakness or blurred vision too.”