Al Roker returned to the Today Show on Friday morning after being away for two months and revealed more details about his health issues.
Roker’s wife, ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts, joined him in the broadcast to give an update on what happened during his ordeal.
“He is a living, breathing miracle,” said Roberts. “He really is, and I have to say—I’m not overstating it, I don’t think—Al was a very, very, very sick man. And I think most people did not know that.”
View this post on InstagramRoker, 68, revealed that he was dealing with blood clots in his lungs and legs, as well as internal bleeding.
“I lost half my blood, and they were trying to figure out where it was,” Roker said, describing what the medical team at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center had to do to save his life.
He was admitted to the ICU for the first time and underwent surgery. His medical team discovered he had two bleeding ulcers. They had to resection his colon, take out his gallbladder, and redo his duodenum, part of the small intestine.
“I went in for one operation, I got four free,” he joked.
Roker attributed his recovery to the medical team at New York Presbyterian, the support he received from family and viewers, and his walking regimen.
“The prayer, you could feel it,” he added.
Roberts knew that he would pull through the moment he started talking about what he wanted for Christmas dinner.
“Al and I were sitting there one day in the … hospital and through this very scratchy voice—and he was so gaunt and exhausted—he said, ‘I’m going to make a spatchcock turkey,'” Roberts said. “I didn’t know whether to burst into tears or just to beam. That was the moment. … I just knew at that point that [Al’s] will, that drive is so, so strong.”
“As a guy, I think you don’t want your family seeing you vulnerable,” Roker said. “You’re supposed to be the strength.”
Roberts was also amazed by all the kind wishes and prayers Roker received, from people they knew and total strangers.
“The amount of goodwill toward you, I will never, ever, ever forget, and never, ever, ever take for granted,” she said.
