WHO 13 meteorologist Jerianne Ritter has announced that she is facing a career-ending diagnosis.
In an interview that aired on Tuesday, Feb. 24, she said doctors believe that she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Doctors have told her there is no treatment and no cure.
Ritter wants people to know that she is not scared. She wants to finish this race strong. Through tears, she said she’ll miss out, but she will have fun doing it.
“I didn’t forecast this storm hitting. It’s raining right now, and I’m just trying to find the sunshine,” Ritter said. “But I’m gonna do what I’ve always been doing. I’m gonna live, I’m gonna love. That’s what I’m gonna be doing.”
When did ALS symptoms start for WHO Jeriann Ritter?
She first noticed that her speech sounded different in October. Viewers started sending her messages asking about her health in late November. She recalled someone asking her, “Are you drunk?” Ritter was devastated to hear that when she had been trying to disguise her speech issues.
“It is killing me that something that came so easy is so hard,” Ritter said.
Ritter first discussed her health issue on social media on Jan. 12, telling viewers that she was having issues with her voice, but that she was feeling good and receiving medical attention. She said she feels like the luckiest person alive with all the support she’s been given from random strangers.
“Thank you so much for your concern. I know all of us have stuff going on, but when my greatest joy is talking and it’s becoming harder to do, it’s kind of a bummer right now,” Ritter said at the time.
Ritter, who worked on newscasts at noon and 4 p.m. on WHO has been a meteorologist at WHO since 2004. She previously worked on the morning show before changing shifts in 2022.
Now, she wants to put her energy into spending time with her family. Ritter wants to keep on living her life, no matter what happens.
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Jeriann Ritter faces ALS diagnosis, break from WHO weather team
Reporting by Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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