Montel Williams says he heard a 'loud pop' before his stroke: 'I knew something was majorly wrong'
Montel Williams just opened up about a terrifying health scare he experienced in May, saying that he is “lucky to be alive” after having a stroke.
“I had what they call a hemorrhagic stroke,” Williams told the Blast in a new interview. “I almost died.” Williams says he was working out alone at a gym in his New York City hotel on May 30 when he heard what sounded like a “loud pop” on his left side.
“I looked up and everything turned into kaleidoscope,” he said. “I knew something was majorly wrong, so I forced myself to get to my room on the 14th floor and called my wife. I told her that I may be having a stroke, so please call 911. She did the rest.”
Williams says he then spent 21 days in the hospital, nine in the intensive care unit. The stroke was “a wake-up call to go 100 percent, instead of the 300 percent I was working at,” he said.
A hemorrhagic stroke happens when either a brain aneurysm bursts or a weakened blood vessel leaks, according to the National Stroke Association. After that happens, blood spills into or around the brain, causing swelling and pressure and damaging cells and tissue in the brain. Only 15 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic, the National Stroke Association says, but they make up about 40 percent of all stroke deaths.
Symptoms of stroke generally include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, usually on one side of the body; sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding speech; sudden trouble seeing with one or both eyes; sudden difficulty walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination; and a sudden severe headache with no known cause, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says.
“Hearing a popping sound is not common,” Sanjiv Patel, MD, a cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif., tells Yahoo Lifestyle. However, it does happen. Diana Greene-Chandos, MD, a neurologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she’s had a few patients describe hearing a popping or rushing noise as one of the first symptoms of a stroke.
As for why? That’s up for debate. “We don’t know why particular sounds like a ‘pop’ can be heard, but possible explanations include the actual blood vessel rupture or the increase in pressure around the brain,” Amit Sachdev, MD, an assistant professor and director of neuromuscular medicine at Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
Again, this isn’t common, though. “I don’t hear it consistently, but I’ve had a number of people describe it to me over my 20 years of practice,” Greene-Chandos says.
Instead of hearing a pop, you’re more likely to get a sudden, intense headache seemingly out of nowhere. “That is the most common form of abnormal sensation that accompanies strokes,” Sachdev says.
If you experience any symptoms of a stroke, it’s important to call 911 immediately. “The quicker you get help, the better the outcome will be,” Patel says.
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