Al Roker Celebrates Health Progress Since Hospitalization Last December
By Movieguide® Contributor
Roughly one year after his hospitalization for blood clots and internal bleeding, TODAY’s Al Roker celebrated his impressive recovery.
“A year ago, I was struggling after getting home from the hospital,” Roker shared on Instagram. “This week marks 60 days in a row of 10k+ steps a day. Been a long road with a lot of folks helping me along the way.”
On the post, he shared a screenshot of the number of steps he was taking daily in December of 2022 where he struggled to top 3,000 and a screenshot of this year’s December steps with up to 15,000 a day.
Roker’s recovery is even more impressive as he underwent knee replacement surgery in May. However, he used the recovery from that to fuel his push to improve his overall health.
“[I thought] well, what are you going to do? I’m just going to get better, and here we go, it’s next year,” Roker said about his recovery. “I’m not one much for looking back. I would prefer to look forward.”
After the TODAY anchor returned to the show in May, he revealed that his knee replacement has been one of the hardest things he has to ever deal with.
“I’m going to be honest. I’ve had a number of body replacements. It’s not a big surprise, [but] this one has been the toughest yet,” Roker said.
“This one is a little more complicated because it was what they call a revision. It was a replacement or a replacement, so they had to take stuff out, put new stuff in, so it was a bit of a bear,” he continued.
As he’s recovered from his hospitalization and knee replacement, Roker has leaned on his family for support. He’s been particularly enjoying being a grandfather for the first time.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Al Roker, long-time host and TODAY SHOW personality, loves being a grandpa and credited his new granddaughter for keeping him motivated amid his ongoing health struggles.
“I’m doing great, doing great. I tell you, the thing that’s kept me going is I’ve had a new granddaughter… If I had known they were this much fun, I would’ve had them first. It’s the best,” he told Entertainment Tonight.
Roker has been open about his recent health struggles over the past few years.
PEOPLE shared that “In November 2020, Roker revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis and has since used his platform to encourage people to get tested.”
In 2022, he was hospitalized twice for blood clots in his legs and lungs, causing him to miss hosting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade after 27 consecutive years.
Most recently, in May 2023, Roker underwent a knee replacement that had several complications. He told TODAY, “This one has been the toughest one yet because they had to take out the old one, which had some complications, and then put in a new one.”
Shortly after his knee surgery, Roker welcomed his first grandchild, Sky Clara Laga, on July 3, born to his daughter Courtney Roker and her husband Wesley Laga.
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