No Al Roker at Thanksgiving. And now, no Al Roker at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.
Roker, the 68-year-old Today stalwart, briefly made it out of the hospital for Thanksgiving with his family, but had to quickly return via ambulance when something went wrong. He’s suffering from blood clots in his leg and lungs. It was the first time in 27 years he didn’t appear at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and he is still in the hospital, making it impossible to appear at live events.
At the Rockefeller Center event tonight, Roker was replaced by Mario Lopez, who was joined by Today co-anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Craig Melvin.
Roker first revealed his condition on Nov. 18 on Instagram.
“So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been,” he wrote, captioning a photo of a bouquet of flowers. “Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs.”
“After some medical whack-a-mole, I am so fortunate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery,” he added. “Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and hope to see you soon. Have a great weekend, everyone.”
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