Opposition activist Colin Graham on Monday returned to hosting the New Democratic Party’s daytime radio show, one week after collapsing live on air while hosting the programme.
He expressed gratitude to those who assisted and reached out to him during his illness and said he was awaiting test results.
Graham, who said “my next zero is going to be 50”, fell ill at the studios of NICE Radio in Dorsetshire Hill around 11:25 a.m. last week Monday and was kept in hospital until Monday night.
“Let me just reassure those who still are concerned, I have done my tests, I’ve concluded my tests, I’m just waiting now for the official results, just to consult with my doctor and what’s not to ascertain where’s the next step from hereon in,” he said on his return to the programme, “New Times”.
“I mean, my next zero is going to be 50 so at this point in time, life has a way of humbling us and reminding us we’re not as young and energetic as we used to be when we were in our teens,” he said.
“But now that we’ve gotten older, we need to be more cognisant of our health and start breaking away from the bad habits and start developing some new healthy habits and lifestyle.
“And I think this was the time when the Lord decided to say, ‘You know what, Colin? Time for you to pause, time for you to take restock and things.’”
Laverne “Gypsy” Phillips, a worker at the station, found Graham in the studio and her screams in reaction were broadcast live as she appealed for help for the broadcaster.
Graham thanked his “faithful fans” who he said he prefers to call friends “who continue to be diehard listeners and supporters of me over the years.
“Let me take this opportunity here no to say thank you so very much for the outpouring of love and support, best wishes, encouragement. It was emotional and it was overwhelming,” said Graham, who has been a broadcaster for over two decades.
“I know the ordeal that I had here on this radio station last week touched people in so many different ways. It was an emotional time for not just family members but close and dear friends too as well having to hear how it played out here on national radio.”
He extended special gratitude to Phillips.
“I was only told after what the outcry was here in the studio. And I could only imagine how she felt at the time coming in and seeing me slumped over this desk here unresponsive,” he said, adding that Phillips stayed with him until he was discharged from hospital.
“She brought a pillow, she brought a blanket, she made sure I had this, she made sure I had that. As soon as I came in here this morning, it’s like, ‘You done eat your breakfast?’”
Graham also thanked party officials and members as well as members of the medical fraternity, mentioning a number of student nurses by surnames.
“… it was a humbling experience. And I don’t want to eat up too much at the programme here today on that but it was definitely a humbling experience,” he said.
“And I mean, the outpouring of love and support and concern by so many persons. Please understand why many of your calls may have went unanswered at the time because there was so much going on, there was so much to deal with and, obviously, the priority was to let my immediate family know more than anything else what was happening and what was going on,” Graham said.