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Gray TV weatherman Brandon Butcher has ‘health scare’ during show

A West Virginia TV meteorologist says he will be off the air for several weeks after suffering a medical episode while delivering a forecast on Friday.

The incident happened during a broadcast of the WSAZ News on Friday, when forecaster Brandon Butcher appeared to have trouble speaking and breathing during his live report.

“I’m not having, uh, some good health right now,” Butcher said after stepping away from the station’s green screen. He continued his weather forecast for around a minute before tossing back to the news desk.

Over the weekend, Butcher posted a note on social media in which he thanked WSAZ (Channel 3, NBC) viewers for their thoughts, concerns and well-wishes.

In the note, Butcher affirmed he suffered from a “health scare” during his forecast, but there was “no permanent damage” to his body. But medical tests “revealed some things I had not known about that will require significant surgery,” which was scheduled to happen on Tuesday.

Butcher said the post-surgery rehabilitation will require him to step away from his forecast duties for several weeks.

“It’s better to do something now than wait longer,” Butcher wrote. “I am a little fearful though, and appreciate any prayers and well-wishes. I’ll try to update when I can.”

WSAZ airs a two-hour morning news program on its sister-station, WQCW (Channel 30). The stations broadcast to the Charleston-Huntington market and are owned by Gray Television.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is an award-winning journalist with more than 10 years of experience covering the business of television and radio broadcasting, streaming services and the overall media industry. In addition to his work as publisher of The Desk, Matthew contributes regularly to StreamTV Insider and KnowTechie, and has worked for several well-known news organizations, including Thomson Reuters, McNaughton Newspapers, Grasswire, Comstock's magazine, KTXL-TV and KGO-TV. Matthew is a member of IRE, a trade organization for investigative reporters and editors, and is based in Northern California.

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