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Barbara Walters Returns To The View After Concussion
After six weeks away from the screen, Barbara Walters made her return to the View today. Walters fell and hit her head at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington the night before the inauguration of President Obama in January. According to the Huffington Post, she then discovered she had chicken pox.
While I was unaware of Walters’ brain injury, because I have never seen an episode of The View, I’m sure her viewers lived through six long weeks as a beloved host and journalist was secluded for health reasons.
Walters’ lengthy recovery shows just how long a brain injury can take to heal. While Barbara Walters isn’t the same age as the athletes making headlines for brain injuries, her career doesn’t require putting her body in danger, yet she was off screen for longer than many athletes stay away from the field.
The only way to heal from a brain injury is physical and mental rest. I am sure Walters hated not being able to be a part of the television show she helped make famous, yet she did what she had to for her health and made a full recovery. The case of chicken pox was apparently contracted before the head injury, after a New Year’s kiss, but the head injury took longer to heal.
It took six weeks for Walters to be back to her normal self, and some concussions can take longer. To celebrate her return to health and the show, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg greeted Walters on The View as a surprise guest.
