Great British Bake Off's Prue Leith, 86, said that a health scare led to a hospitalization when her migraine symptoms resembled those of a stroke while on vacation with husband John Playfair.
Prue Leith is feeling much better after a recent health scare.
The Great British Bake Off host described a recent frightening incident in which she lost her ability to properly speak and see, leading medical professionals to assess whether she'd experienced a stroke.
"A few weeks ago, staying in Yorkshire, I had a migraine attack," Leith wrote in her September column for The Oldie, as reported by The Sun, with her recounting how she was speaking in an "incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words."
And though the troubling occurrence would eventually land the 86-year-old in the hospital amid her vacation with husband John Playfair, the migraine followed "a familiar path" at the start.
"First, I can see only half of whatever I’m looking at," Leith detailed. "This is speedily followed by a bright circle of flickering, coloured lights in the upper right field of vision."
But once the restaurateur lost control of her speech, her partner (who appears alongside her on Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen) became convinced this was more than her usual "crashing headache."
"I tried to tell him it was just a migraine," Leith confessed, "but I couldn’t string two words together."
Though she was able to pass an over-the-phone examination for a stroke after Playfair called for help, medics ultimately requested she come in for additional care, given her "extreme old age being a time when mini-strokes are common," Leith said.
At the hospital, Leith eventually regained "coherent speech" and received a clear CT scan result, which allowed for her release at 2 a.m.
After being cleared despite the symptoms, the cook—of South African and British nationality—recalled the first time she ever experienced a neurological disturbance.
"When I had my first attack, I was trying to tell my mother I wanted to be sick," Leith recounted, "but it came out ‘I want fish.'"
Despite the stressful nature of the situation, Leith managed to remain grateful for the "cheerful, sympathetic, polite" healthcare workers—and add a bit of humor when recounting her cafeteria meal.
"It was white bread with a skinny slice of processed ham," Leith wrote. "Not the healthiest supper for nurses on night shift, but John and I wolfed it down."
Read on to learn how other celebrities handled health scares.
