Dame Prue Leith Hospitalised with Stroke-Like Symptoms
Celebrated chef experienced severe migraine with speech impairment while on Yorkshire holiday, prompting emergency medical attention.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Callum Smith
Dame Prue Leith was rushed to Harrogate Hospital by ambulance during a holiday in Yorkshire.
"This time, my incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words convinced John I was having a stroke," Prue Leith stated. "I tried to tell him it was just a migraine, but I couldn’t string two words together."
I tried to tell him it was just a migraine, but I couldn’t string two words together.
Dame Prue has a history of migraines since childhood and carries medication for them, reportedly knowing "all along that all I had was a migraine."
Despite her personal conviction, the speech problem is understood to be a classic symptom of a stroke; her advanced age also makes mini-strokes common.
She spent 10 hours in hospital undergoing tests, including a CT scan, and was discharged after the scan results confirmed she had not had a stroke.
Leith was released in the early hours of the morning following the all-clear.
Writing in her column for The Oldie magazine, Dame Prue highlighted the work of the NHS and complimented the staff she encountered.
Prue Leith remarked, "You may have to wait for ever. But when it is your turn, you are treated as if you were the only patient in A&E, with concern and patience."