It’s no secret that the broadcast engineering community continues to age with fewer younger engineers entering the ranks, and that fact was on full display in April at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas.
I can remember commenting to one of my friends at the show that one day soon I wouldn’t be surprised to see the walkways between the halls looking like a NASCAR track as ageing engineers vie for position in their motorized scooters.
Little did I know that I might be joining their ranks—far sooner than I ever would have imagined.
In May, I suffered a stroke that took me off my game for the better part of two weeks. Looking back, it was the oddest thing in the world because as I was going through it, the thought never occurred to me that I was having a stroke—even though years prior I happened to be present when a loved one was having a stroke and clearly recognized what was going on looking at it from the outside in.
All I knew was that my legs felt so weak I could not stand (as it would turn out that “weakness” was likely due to my lack of control on the left side of my body). Normally, my crashing to the floor would have alerted my wife that something was seriously wrong, but she happened to be on a plane at that time returning from vacation.
A call to 911 summoned the paramedics and firefighters who arrived, evaluated me and took me to the hospital.
As my case progressed, the doctors wanted to find out the source of the clot that caused the stroke, which led to a cardiac catheterization that uncovered serious cardiac artery disease. At this writing, I am days away from open heart surgery to revascularize my heart.
All of this to communicate two points. First, while most would regard having a stroke as a major negative life event, I look at it now as a bit of good fortune because it led to uncovering a serious health condition that could end my life. Now, that can be addressed. Plus, as it turns out the stroke has not left me with any noticeable deficits.
Second, as I mentioned at the top of this column. None of us is getting any younger, so it might be worthwhile to learn the acronym the medical community has given to recognizing a stroke and taking action: B.E.F.A.S.T. Or,
B –Balance, sudden loss of balance or coordination.
E –Eyes, sudden change in vision.
F –Face droop on one side or numbness.
A –Arm weakness or numbness.
S –Speech is slurred.
T –Time to call 911.
I am looking forward to successful heart surgery, rehab and getting back in the swing of covering this ever-changing industry. See you then.
