Prue Leith rushed to hospital in an ambulance after losing ‘half her sight and ability to speak’

THE Great British Bake Off host Prue Leith was rushed to hospital in a blue-light ambulance amid fears she was having a stroke.

The 86-year-old national treasure was enjoying a getaway in Yorkshire when she suffered a health scare that left her unable to string a sentence together.

Prue’s worried husband, John Playfair, called 999 after the star’s speech turned into an “incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words”. 

Writing in her column Prue’s News in the September issue of The Oldie magazine, which is out on Friday, Prue said: “A few weeks ago, staying in Yorkshire, I had a migraine attack.

“It followed a familiar path. First, I can see only half of whatever I’m looking at.

“This is speedily followed by a bright circle of flickering, coloured lights in the upper right field of vision.

“If I don’t swiftly swallow one of my migraine ‘bombs’ (three pills: paracetamol, ibuprofen and sumatriptan), a crashing headache will follow.” 

Going into detail about how medics rushed to her care, Prue continued: “This time, my incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words convinced John I was having a stroke.

“I tried to tell him it was just a migraine, but I couldn’t string two words together.

“He rang our doctor, who asked me, could I raise my arms? Yes. Make a fist? Yes. Did anything hurt? No. Was the side of my face drooping? No.

“In spite of my answers, she ordered an ambulance to take me to Harrogate Hospital.

“The ambulance man asked me the same questions, as did a nurse on arrival at A&E, and so, after a six-hour wait, did the doctor.

“In spite of my assuring him (I’d recovered coherent speech by then) that it was a migraine, he decided on a CT scan. Two hours later, I had one, waited another hour for the results, and was released at 2am.”

Reflecting on her childhood, Prue revealed she suffered her first ever migraine aged nine where her speech went so “bananas” she tried to say she wanted to be sick, but accidentally blurted out: “I want fish.”

The star explained: “When I had my first attack, I was trying to tell my mother I wanted to be sick, but it came out ‘I want fish.’” 

Prue has told the harrowing tale in a bid to shed further light on the amazing work our NHS does.

She gushed: “The NHS personnel are all cheerful, sympathetic, polite, helpful and professional. You may have to wait forever, but when it is your turn, you are treated as if you were the only patient in A&E.

“The nurse who took my blood had been on duty for 10 hours — her replacement had rung in sick — but she was bright as a daisy. Said she loved her job. 

“And the doctor took the trouble to access my NHS records. He explained why he wanted to refer me for a brain scan, just to be sure (people of my age, 86, are prone to mini-strokes).

“And when, after eight hours, I said I was hungry, a nursing assistant went foraging for a sandwich. It was white bread with a skinny slice of processed ham. 

“Not the healthiest supper for nurses on night shift, but John and I wolfed it down.

“I wonder what my 10 hours in A&E cost the nation? 

“I knew all along that all I had was a migraine. But since the speech problem is a classic symptom of a stroke, and my extreme old age being a time when mini-strokes are common, everyone was determined to be safe not sorry.”