Montel Williams Hospitalized 'Out of an Abundance of Caution' After 'He Overdid It' Exercising

Dave Quinn
Updated

Montel Williams is recovering in the hospital after suffering a medical emergency during a workout in New York City.

The talk show legend, 61, was rushed to the hospital via ambulance on Wednesday, his spokesperson, Jonathan Franks, said in a statement on Twitter.

“Anyone who knows Montel knows that he is an exercise enthusiast,” Franks tweeted on Thursday. “Yesterday, he overdid it and has been admitted to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. He is doing well and anticipates being discharged soon.”

“In the coming days, as he always has, Montel will tell his story himself. Until then, we respectfully ask that his family’s privacy be respected,” Franks continued. “The Williams family will forever be grateful for the quick response from NYFD and the excellent care he has received.”

Franks also tweeted the statement on Williams’ official Twitter page, where he said, “we expect him to be discharged in the coming days.”

Williams — who’s legendary talk show ran form 1991 to 2008 — was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, after first experiencing vision problem symptoms in 1980 when he was about to graduate from the U.S Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, he told Everyday Health in 2017.

MS is an unpredictable disease that affects the central nervous system and disrupts the communication between the brain and the rest of the body, according to the National Library of Medicine. Usually, the first symptoms that appear are blurry or double vision, color distortion or blindness in one eye.

Most people begin to develop signs of the disease between the ages of 20 and 40. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates there are more than 2 million people around the world with the disease.

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Symptoms came and went for Williams over the next 22 years. “I would lose the vision in my left eye, but then it would return after several days,” Williams said. “I also had days where I would feel pain or numbness, but I would chalk it up to a strenuous workout.”

Eventually, an MRI led doctors to his diagnosis.

Since then, Williams has learned to manage his health and become an outspoken advocate on the topic, writing books and even launching the Montel Williams MS Foundation to raise money that funds research on the disease.

“Instead of letting MS control my life, I work to control my disease with healthy eating, exercise and [medication] injections,” he told Everyday Health. “Through diet and exercise, I’ve been able to reduce my MS symptoms and flare-ups. … I’ve always been active, but since being diagnosed with MS, I make exercise a priority and work out every day. Staying in good physical shape has helped me prevent my multiple sclerosis symptoms from getting much worse.”