14 DAY TRIAL // Reporter Serene Branson was supposed the cover live the Grammy Awards 2011 outside the venue when she experienced an obvious inability to speak. Many thought she had a mini-stroke on air, but her physician is now saying that was not the case.
As we also noted at the time, KCBS reporter Branson seemed just fine when she went on air – but minutes into the broadcast, she started slurring her words and speaking gibberish.
By the time producers cut the transmission and went back to airing live from inside the awards show, she was already uttering nonsense – and, by the looks in her eyes, had realized she wasn’t saying the words she wanted to say.
Her physician is now at liberty to discuss her condition, the LA Times reports, and he wants the world to know that she did not have a mini-stroke in front of the camera.
Serene had a “complex migraine,” said Dr. Neil Martin, and its symptoms can sometimes mimic those of a stroke, which is why everybody believed this was what had happened to her.
“KCBS 2 television reporter Serene Branson’s garbled speech during a live Grammy broadcast last Sunday was not the result of a small stroke as many have speculated but was instead a symptom of a ‘complex migraine,’ according to her physician, Dr. Neil Martin, chief of neurosurgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center,” the LA Times informs.
“A complex migraine can mimic the symptoms of a stroke, with weakness, loss of vision and difficulty speaking, in addition to a headache. It is often mistaken for a stroke,” says the same publication.
This also explains why, after a checkup, Branson was allowed to go home and wasn’t hospitalized instead, it is being said.
Paramedics called to the scene after the on-air incident ruled out that she needed rest and Branson was sent home to recover.
As the LA Times explains, when such migraines occur, blood vessels in the brain dilate and spasm (narrow). As they spasm, blood circulation to certain areas of the brain may be restricted to such an extent as to cause the symptoms manifest in Branson.
Below is a video of Serene Branson being suddenly unable to speak during a Grammys 2011 broadcast.