Injured TV anchor bounces back

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

Former Portland veteran TV anchor Kim Block says she has made a major step forward in recovering from a crippling head injury.

Block, who suffered what is known as a traumatic brain injury when she slipped on ice in January 2019 and cracked her head on the pavement, said she has made her first speech since the injury.

Block appeared recently as the keynote speaker for a group calling itself Women in Transportation in Maine, sharing her story of resilience and persistence in the wake of a devastating injury.

"This marks the first in-person speech since my traumatic brain injury - an important milestone," Block said afterwards. "I was so touched by the response" of the audience.

Nearly three years ago the award-winning broadcast veteran made the stunning announcement that she was resigning from WGME after 39 years on the anchor desk.

She said at the time that she was healing from an accident, which caused an injury much of the public didn't even know about.

Block was injured when she was walking back to her house from her car to fetch something she had forgotten.

"In one single swoop my feet came out from underneath me and I landed hard," she said. "It was the back of my head that broke my fall. it smashed not once, but popped up and smashed again, sending my body into a tailspin."

In reluctantly resigning she said that the recovery was "taking longer than any of us had hoped or expected."

Block said in her recent speech that even now she is still "in recovery mode."

The brain injury wasn't the only health challenge that Block had to contend with in the last few years. Roughly a year after falling on the ice she ended up having open heart surgery.

So it was a major milestone for her to be able to get out and make a public speech for the first time.

Block said she was "grateful for the invitation to speak to this wonderful group."