Al Roker returned to “Today” on Friday after dealing with multiple health issues and scares over the past two months.
“My heart is just bursting. I’m just so thrilled to see all of you and the crew and everybody,” he said. “Right now, I’m running on adrenaline. I’m just thrilled to be here.”
The 68-year-old weatherman was joined by his wife, Deborah Roberts, who said her husband was “a medical mystery for a couple of weeks” and that his health scare was “the most tumultuous, frightening journey we have ever been on.”
“It’s not lost on us that this is a major, major thing for Al to be here. He is a living, breathing, miracle,” Roberts said. “Al was a very, very, very sick man. And I think most people did not know that.”
In addition to going through multiple tests, Roberts revealed that Roker underwent “a major, major surgery.”
“We were just on pins and needles every day,” she added.
Roker admitted that he had “no idea how bad off I was” and thought he was “doing pretty good.” However, he ended up having two complicating issues.
“I had blood clots that they think came up after I had COVID in September. And then I had this internal bleeding going on, I lost half my blood,” he explained. “And they were trying to figure out where it was and finally they went in, did this surgery. I had two bleeding ulcers, had to resection the colon, take out my gallbladder…I went in for one operation, I got four free.”
Roberts praised Roker for showing strength on his medical journey and recalled the moment she knew he was going to make it.
“He was so gaunt and exhausted. He said, ‘I’m going to make a spatchcock turkey for Christmas.’ And I didn’t know whether to burst into tears or just to beam,” Roberts said. “That was the moment for me, and it will always be the moment for me … I’m sitting here hoping he’s going to make it to Christmas and here he is talking about making a turkey for Christmas.”
Roker credited the medical team at New York Presbyterian, the support of his family and loved ones, and his walking regimen for helping him recover.
“Each of my doctors said if I wasn’t in the shape that I was in, this might have been a different outcome,” he emphasized.
Watch the full “Today” segment in the video above.
