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ZDF presenter Gundula Gause: “I probably should have called in sick that day”
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
News presenter Gundula Gause described the attack of weakness she suffered on a live broadcast about a month ago as “totally unnecessary”.
"I probably should have called in sick that day because I sensed that something was wrong," she told Bild am Sonntag.
»But I still thought I could do it.
Today I know better." The attack of weakness that evening was simply bad luck - "and totally unnecessary."
The 58-year-old suffered a small attack of weakness during the ZDF "heute journal" on December 18th, and she spoke increasingly slowly and indistinctly.
At the end of the show, main presenter Dunja Hayali gave the all-clear and said that Gause was feeling better again.
The editorial team reported a short time later on X (formerly Twitter):
Gause now praised her colleagues and especially Hayali: They pulled her aside at the right moment and sat her on a chair.
She is eternally grateful to her colleagues for this.
»A big compliment at this point to my great colleague Dunja Hayali, who galloped onto the next horse like a Hungarian rider and continued to moderate for me.
She saved the show.”
A brief moment of weakness – and a lot of people are watching
What happened to her was what many others have experienced: she had several infections and took a painkiller because she didn't want to cancel the show unnecessarily.
She only ate a little.
Then there was a brief moment of weakness.
“Unfortunately, as a news presenter, a lot of people were watching.”
»I realized very shortly before that this was about to go wrong and I could faint in front of the camera.
I suddenly felt that I was incredibly tired and that the sentences were slipping away from me." Her brief lack of circulation was caused by the infections and the tension.
She was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but her husband was able to take her home that same night.
ok/dpa