Stroke victim Kuya Kim’s big turnaround
TV host Kim Atienza may be known for delivering weather reports in Filipino and using the native tongue when hosting a noontime show. But he is as fluent in English as any well-educated man can be.
That he wasn't able to speak anything but Tagalog after he had a mild stroke three years ago naturally puzzled his wife Fely who mainly communicates in English and Chinese.
"After regaining my ability to talk which was part of my initial recovery stage, it turned out I could only speak in Tagalog. My wife said she couldn't understand me," recalled the celebrity fondly called as Kuya Kim.
He later learned that in such a delicate condition, the patient retains only the language most basic to him.
"That means I think in Tagalog," Kuya Kim relates.
Speaking English is such a big deal among Filipinos, those who have a hard time communicating with it sometimes becomes the butt of jokes.
Kuya Kim's case was no laughing matter though.
BP check advocate
The mild stroke the 46-year old TV personality endured was a blessing in disguise as it led him to becoming an advocate of blood pressure monitoring.
He recently detailed his life-threatening experience during a press conference for a digital blood pressure monitoring device called Omron which he endorses. Omron is currently the "only brand verified and accredited by the Philippine Society of Hypertension."
"It's important to monitor blood pressure," he advised. "I was born with a hole in my heart and I only knew it after the stroke."
The former voice talent remembered he was "naked in the bathroom at 8 am" when the attack happened. "I couldn't speak and I ran outside. I thought I was poisoned or drugged."
He was first rushed to PGH (Philippine General Hospital), near his place in Malate, then to Makati Medical Center.
It took three days before "70 percent of Kuya Kim was back."
At first, he could only name three animals: the cat, dog and bird. But as everyone knows , Kuya Kim is now fully recovered.
Running enthusiast
Kuya Kim beat other possible endorsers Omron was considering because of his "consistency at transforming his lifestyle," as brand manager Julie Lee put it. He admitted having bad eating habits and "smoking because it was trendy."
He got hooked to running and joined his first run six months after the stroke. In December, Kuya Kim will try to complete a 4-km swimming, 180-km biking and 42-km run in 13 hours.
"The experience was surreal. When it happens, it happens," the weatherman reflected of his 2010 ordeal. "A lot of things begin to happen when you reach the age of 40. It's best that you try to prevent such."
He added, "Live in the now. Be alive."
