KGO reporter Luz Peña revealed why she has been off the air for about a month.
In a story on the San Francisco ABC owned station, Peña said she crashed into a tree head-on while skiing in Lake Tahoe, badly breaking her leg and leaving her with a major concussion.
Peña told viewers her husband and brother-in-law found her motionless after the accident, her face was blue and her eyes were wide open.
“I was making snoring noises,” Peña told viewers. “That noise is called a death rattle. It’s a sign that a person is approaching death.”
“My last memory of that day is just having an incredible day and then waking up at the hospital,” said Peña.
Peña’s husband estimated she was unconscious for about ten minutes until she arched her back and took a breath. “He said I let out a cry like when a baby is first born,” Peña said.
She was airlifted to a hospital in Reno where she needed immediate surgery to repair a broken tibia. A bone fragment was a centimeter away from cutting an artery.
Peña advised skiers to buy a helmet equipped with MIPS technology, which she said helped her avoid a major head injury.
She also said that she has a long road to recovery and can’t walk for “many months.”
“Every time I bend my knee a little bit, is a victory. Straightening my knee, a victory. Lifting my leg on my own for the first time, a victory,” she said. She added that there was no reason for people to feel sorry for her because she was so happy to “be alive and get an opportunity to make a difference in this world.”