May is National Stroke Awareness Month and Dr. Rahul Jandial, a neurosurgeon and scientist at City of Hope, sheds more light on the warning signs and symptoms to look out for when it comes to strokes.
Longtime KTLA weather anchor Mark Kriski suffered a stroke in May 2024.
“I went down like a ton of bricks,” Kriski recalled. “I tried to get out of bed and my legs weren’t there. I was tilting to the right all the time, which my stroke seemed to affect.”
Upon recovery, Kriski revealed he had Wallenberg Syndrome, which involved damage to a part of the brainstem called the medulla, typically caused by a stroke, and his vocal cords had been affected.
“One of my vocal cords, the right one, was paralyzed,” he said. “So that’s why I had such a hoarse voice.”
Kriski said his doctors injected a filler to plump up his affected right cord so that both the left and right cords could meet and work properly again for speech.
The filler, however, is a temporary solution and Kriski said he and his physicians are still discussing procedures and permanent solutions.
“But I recovered and it’s been great,” Kriski said. “The best advice Dr. Jandial said is, ‘Move every day and exercise.’”
Kriski made his official return to the KTLA 5 Morning News on April 3. He said that although he’s glad to be mostly recovered, he did note that the incident changed his life.
“You’re never quite the same,” he said. “Fortunately, I live very close to Northridge Hospital, which is actually a stroke center. I really want to thank all the doctors, nurses, technicians — everyone at Northridge Hospital. I’d also like to thank everybody for all the well wishes I’ve been getting. A year ago, I was in a wheelchair and here I am now.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some tips to prevent a stroke include eating healthy foods, keeping a healthy weight, getting regular physical activity, avoiding smoking or drinking alcohol and more. More information can be found here.
The full segment with Kriski and Dr. Jandial can be seen in the video player above.
