So scary. Montel Williams just opened up for the first time about his hospitalization following a scary hemorrhagic stroke he suffered earlier this year.  The 62-year-old revealed he spent 21 days in the hospital (nine of them being in the ICU) before he was sent home to fully recover. 

Montel — who also battles Multiple sclerosis — confessed to The Blast that he’s “lucky to be alive” since he “almost died” following a workout at a NYC hotel in late May. During his routine dumbbell squats, he heard what he described as a “loud pop” on the left side of his body — and everything went downhill from there.

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More tomorrow on GMA and Dr. Oz. Grateful to be alive.

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“I looked up and everything turned into caleidoscope,” he shared with the news outlet. “I knew something was majorly wrong, so I forced myself to get to my room on the 14th floor and called my wife, [Tara Fowler]. I told her that I may be having a stroke, so please call 911. She did the rest.” Thanks to Tara’s promptness, in no time at all, a special emergency for stroke victims arrived at the scene, and they were able to do a CAT scan on the scene. 

The Montel Williams Show host and his third wife, Tara, previously wed in 2007. “I give all the credit to my wife,” Montel gushed. “She laid on the bed with me for all 21 days, sleeping at the hospital and staying there 18 hours a day. The only thing I remember for the first five days of the ICU is her saying. ‘I love you.'” How sweet!

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Despite the scary incident, however, Montel revealed the alarming situation actually taught him a lot about life. “[It was] a wake-up call to go 100 percent, instead of the 300 percent I was working at,” he confessed. We’re just glad he’s doing well today!