Rosie O’Donnell describes a recent health incident and talks to PEOPLE.
In general, Rosie O’Donnell’s take-no-prisoners attitude means she’s not afraid to call out beloved Oscar winners and treasured talk show hosts alike.
Sometimes, she turns that observational gaze on herself.
Rosie recently detailed the health crisis she witnessed, reflecting on the danger the person was in and her own reaction in that moment.
The health crisis Rosie O’Donnell witnessed was not her own
Recently, Rosie O’Donnell attended a New York Rangers game, which research tells us is a hockey team. She was with her son, Blake O’Donnell, and his new wife, Teresa Garofalo Westervelt.
During the game, a fellow spectator went through what happened Horrible Health event.
“Two rows ahead of us, all of a sudden, in the second quarter, people around this guy get up and start yelling, ‘Medic! doctor! Medic!” the comedian shared on his TikTok account, as you can see below.
“The guy had just collapsed, and they couldn’t wake him up,” she continued in her TikTok video.
Rosie O’Donnell recalled the man’s health, saying he was “not well at a time of such crisis.” She further said that she “gets very nervous and starts screaming very loudly.”
He then continued: “They were shouting [for] doctor. So I got up because the aisle to our left was empty, so I could go right down the aisle. And I go to grab the security and the people working there, and I’m yelling, ‘Call 911, we need a medic…’ but louder. And my voice has been loud since the beginning.”
Rosie O’Donnell’s harrowing story continues
Rosie O’Donnell said, “This lady runs over, might have been an EMT person, and jumps over the two rows that were between us and then over to where the guy was sitting, and starts helping him. Gives.”
“And soon – you know, not so soon for me – but soon the police were there, and the EMTs were there,” she described. “And they picked him up, and they carried him outside and upstairs.”
Rosie then thought: “How terrible is it to have a medical emergency in the middle of a crowded stadium and then be put in an ambulance in New York City, where there is always traffic?”
Rosie O’Donnell admitted, “Sometimes I make myself very nervous.” “That made my son angry, too, because he said, ‘Mom, you didn’t have to do that.'”
She recalled accepting: “I’m like, ‘I know. I didn’t have to do it, but I felt like I had to,’ because sitting there panicking and doing nothing was not an option.
“But I am learning how to deal with it. I’m learning how to deal with that fight or flight response,’ Rosie confirmed. “I think I do much better in my normal life and relationships, but I don’t do as well when there’s an emergency like a disaster.”
Everyone has their own response to an emergency
“I have emergency, disaster anxiety – even anticipated emergency anxiety. like before [Hurricane] Milton, I was a mess,” Rosie O’Donnell described. “You know, all these storms, all these tragedies, wars. I had no calm way of dealing with it or accepting it. My body and mind Just booms.”
Some people live in a state of crisis all the time, to the point that an actual emergency almost feels like a relief – as if they’ve been training for it forever. Others may be nervous about someone else’s situation. This is not a bad thing. Sometimes, heroism happens just like that.
Rosie O’Donnell also confirmed: “I pray that the boy is OK. I don’t know what happened to him.” We also hope that he is fine.