But McEwen, 54, now is a new setback – the abrupt end to a court battle against the doctor who told him he had the stomach flu when he showed up in a hospital emergency room in Maryland with stroke -like symptoms.
Two days after the hospital visit, McEwen, on board a flight to Orlando, Florida, and suffered a stroke. His lawyers say the race could have been avoided if McEwen had been given drugs like aspirin and anti-clotting.
U.S. District However, Judge J. Frederick Motz agreed, ruling last week that the drugs were not effective enough in the short term have made a difference in the case of McEwen.
“I was very disappointed,” McEwen told The Associated Press on Monday. “When you’re against something that is kind of dark, which tends to throw a person who is used to tell the difference between good and evil.”
McEwen lawyers say they are considering an appeal. Lawyers for the defendants, Dr. Michael Bond and Baltimore Washington Medical Center, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
McEwen worked for CBS from 1987 to 2002, filling a variety of roles in “The Early Show, including meteorologist, anchor and entertainment reporter. He met with the presidents and contributed to the network coverage of the Olympics. He was fired in 2002, when the network renewed “The Early Show” and in 2004, he joined the CBS affiliate in Orlando, WKMG-TV as news anchor.
McEwen was visiting friends and family in Maryland – his brother, Kirk McEwen, is a radio DJ for a long time in Baltimore – in November 2005 when he began to feel nausea and dizziness to departing on a flight Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
She also experienced slurred speech – a red flag by a stroke. But Dr. Michael Bond, who was treated in the emergency room, said in a statement that paramedics did not mention that the symptoms of it.
Bond also acknowledged in his statement that he spent time looking up McEwen on the Internet during their time in the emergency room. The doctor said McEwen, who had the stomach flu and advised him not to fly for two days. McEwen heard that advice, then traveled to Florida at home and suffered a stroke in the air.
McEwen’s attorney, Daniel W. Cotter said he was “impressed” by Motz’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit and disappointed that the case was dismissed in what it considers a legal technicality.
“We believe that if given the opportunity to decide this case, a jury would have clearly seen through the defenses created to avoid liability to Mr. McEwen,” said Cotter.
McEwen had to learn to walk and talk again after the race, and former right-handed now uses his left hand for most tasks. While his speech sounded clear in a telephone interview, said his voice is still “a work in progress” and a complete change of time on television is out of reach.
He has written a book, “After the Race: My Journey Back to Life”, and travels the country for talks.
“Many people believe that stroke is a kind of disease alone,” said McEwen. “There is no defense, with a spokesman like Lance Armstrong, as Michael J. Fox. … I am committed to doing that.”
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