- ITV News at Ten presenter rushed straight to hospital after finishing show
ITV news bosses tried to get their presenter Rageh Omaar to hand over his bulletin to a stand-in presenter after he fell ill on air, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
News at Ten viewers were left concerned for the presenter after he began struggling with his words during a weekend free-time topic near the end of Friday’s programme.
But Omaar, 56, insisted he would continue and refused to hand over to a substitute presenter on the London regional news show, even though he was taken straight to hospital after the programme.
An ITV News source told The Mail on Sunday: “The show’s team were trying to replace him when they realized there was a problem.”
‘They sent the reserve presenter to the set to take over, but he insisted on staying on air. No one could get him out of his chair. He refused to move. Even when they told him that he had to leave and that the team had called for medical help. Everyone did everything they could to help him. Rageh is a consummate professional.
ITV News at Ten presenter Rageh Omaar insisted on ending the show after contracting an illness while on air, despite pleas from bosses to bring in a replacement presenter.
“I was determined to finish what I had started. It was a horrible, horrible night.
Omaar, international affairs editor at ITV News, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he spent the night after station staff called paramedics. He was discharged yesterday afternoon and is recovering with his family.
A friend of the news presenter suggested he didn’t feel “bad” as he stumbled over his words. Both ITV and Omaar’s family were reluctant to give details about the cause of his on-screen ailment, but experts have said the presenter was showing signs of a mini-stroke, called a transient ischemic attack (TIA).
It is caused by a temporary interruption in the blood supply to a part of the brain caused by a displaced blood clot or “lining” of the arteries.
Fiona Clark, a staff nurse, claimed she had called ITV at 10.10pm and told them that “as an ICU nurse working in stroke, Rageh Omaar needed an emergency ambulance, she had dysphasia, her left eye was drooping. , he was slurring his words and agitated.” ‘.
The acronym Fast – which stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time – is a test to quickly identify if someone is having a stroke.
In a statement, Omaar thanked the show’s viewers and said: “I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes, especially all the medical staff, all my wonderful colleagues at ITV News and our viewers who expressed their concern.” .
“At that moment I was determined to finish presenting the program. “I am grateful for all the support they have given me.”
But viewers accused ITV News of failing in its duty of care to Mr Omaar, despite not knowing what was happening in the studio.
There were calls on social media for television regulator Ofcom to investigate ITV’s treatment of the Somali-born presenter.
Regulator Ofcom has faced calls to investigate ITV’s treatment of the Somali-born presenter
An ITV News spokesperson said last night that it appreciated that News at Ten viewers were “concerned about Rageh Omaar’s welfare”.
And they added: ‘After medical treatment in the hospital, he is now recovering at home with his family. We wish Rageh a speedy recovery and hope that he will appear on screen again when he feels ready.”
Father-of-three Omaar studied modern history at Oxford and became famous for his role as a BBC foreign correspondent during the invasion of Iraq and the fall of Baghdad in 2003.
In September 2006 he moved to Al Jazeera English, where he presented the weeknight documentary series, and in January 2013 he became a special correspondent and presenter for ITV.
The broadcaster is married to Georgiana Rose Montgomery-Cuninghame, with whom he has three children, Loula, Sami and Zachary.
Following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth, ITV also tapped Omaar to cover her funeral on 19 September 2022.
