Watch this video.  Did the blondiful reporter suffer a stroke or just get massively tongue-tied?  Whatever the case … it was the most awkward ten seconds of live TV I’ve seen in a long time.  And it’s absolutely blown up on the internet.  Reports have ranged from an alleged on-air stroke to epic live TV fail. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HcYBAUHaCw&feature=related

The reporter, KCBS’s Serene Branson, was immediately examined by paramedics on the scene following the report and was not hospitalized, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Branson told station executives there was no indication of a serious medical problem, though she is resting comfortably today. 

Well, I should hope so.

Here’s the weird thing … this is EXACTLY what I sounded like when I had a stroke.  I was talking out loud and making complete sense in my head, but my words were unintelligible.  It was frighteningly freaky to watch.  Trying to call 911 to request an ambulance was an adventure in itself. 

The blogosphere has all sorts of theories, mind you.  A neurologist who watched Branson’s episode offered several possible explanations as to what happened to her.

“Stroke is the number one possibility,” Dr. John Krakauer, associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, told CBS News. Other possibilities, he said, include a transient ischemic attack – a sort of “mini-stroke” that produces no lasting problems – a migraine headache, or a seizure.

“It’s a lot more common in young people than people realize,” Krakauer said. “About 50,000 people a year have a stroke under the age of 50.”

(Hello, Captain Obvious … thanks for that update.  You’re preaching to the choir.)

Whatever it was … or wasn’t … the video is unsettling.  She starts off with a gorgeous smile that evaporates in to incomprehensible babbling.  I’m curious to know what the REAL story is, but if it was a mini-stroke, let’s hope she’s on the road to recovery ASAP.