ADVERTISEMENT
For decades, Al Roker has been a constant presence in American mornings. His face, his laugh, his steady warmth—he wasn’t just delivering weather forecasts, he was part of the daily rhythm of millions of households. Al Roker felt dependable in a way few television figures ever achieve, like someone who would always be there no matter what storms rolled in. That’s why his sudden disappearance from the Today show in late 2022 hit so hard. At first, viewers assumed it was temporary. A routine medical issue. A short break. Instead, it became one of the most frightening health battles of his life, one that left his family, coworkers, and fans shaken to their core.
The crisis began quietly in November 2022, when Roker was hospitalized for what was initially described as blood clots in his leg. Those clots had traveled to his lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism—already a dangerous, potentially fatal condition. True to form, Roker tried to downplay the severity later, joking about it as “medical whack-a-mole.” But behind the humor was a far grimmer reality. Doctors soon discovered that the clots were only part of the problem. A cascade of internal complications was unfolding inside his body.
Surgery followed, and then more surgery. What was expected to be a two-hour procedure stretched into a seven-hour ordeal as surgeons encountered complications involving his colon and gallbladder. For a terrifying 48-hour window, it was unclear whether Roker would survive. The man who had spent a lifetime reassuring others suddenly became the one everyone was praying for.
During this time, his wife, Deborah Roberts, carried an unimaginable burden. Later, she described the experience as the most frightening journey of their lives. While Roker lay in intensive care, she made the conscious decision to shield him from the full extent of the danger he was in. She understood that his recovery depended not only on medicine, but on his mindset. Letting him know just how close he came to dying could have crushed his spirit at the very moment he needed strength most.
This wasn’t Roker’s first encounter with serious illness. Over the years, he had been remarkably open about his health struggles, including a 2020 diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer, along with multiple orthopedic surgeries. Yet this episode eclipsed them all. It was the first time his life truly hung in the balance.
ADVERTISEMENT