Good Morning America weather forecaster Sam Champion has been hospitalized for emergency heart surgery.
The 64-year-old revealed he underwent surgery on Sunday, sharing a photo on Instagram of himself sitting in a hospital bed hooked up to a machine.
Champion began his post by thanking the doctors and “amazing team of nurses” at Mount Sinai Faster Heart Hospital in New York City.
“Many of you know that I underwent a nuclear stress test last Thursday,” he explained. “And today we found some things that needed to be taken care of, so we went to the cardiac catheterization lab and took care of them.”
Champion said he is doing “good” after surgery and is “expected to make a full recovery.”
He also posted a selfie taken from his hospital bed on his Instagram Stories, writing, “After that: some work and then back to normal.”
Champion’s husband of 14 years, Rubem Robierv, commented on the post with a bunch of stars and a raised hand emoji.
“I love you, baby,” Champion wrote back to his partner.
Colleague Robin Roberts also showed support, writing: “If you ever need anything, you know I’m here! You’ll get better soon!”
“Today,” meteorologist Al Roker wrote, “Sam the Man. I’m glad to see you’re on the mend, my friend,” to which Champion replied, “Al, you’re such a sweet guy…Thank you so much for calling.”
ABC 7 Meteorologist Dani Beckstrom commented, “If you see this, you have to go to the heart care center. I’m so glad you’re okay. We need you for another 263,859,26385 years.”
The champion also survived his battle with skin cancer, which he talked about on “GMA” in October 2024.
He told viewers he had an unusual mark on his face, which turned out to be nodular basal cell carcinoma, and he underwent three surgeries at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the Upper East Side.
The surgery left Champion with a scar under one eye.
“I hope one day no one ever has to undergo surgery to get rid of skin cancer, but for now we need to keep an eye on our skin, keep our hands on our skin, stay alert, notice any unusual spots, and seek treatment as soon as those spots start to change,” Champion said.
Champion also said that in his 20s, he was diagnosed with skin cancer from spending too much time in the sun.
“When I’m not teaching the weather, my favorite thing to do is be outside, but these days I don’t even think about going outside without wearing sunscreen,” he explained. “It wasn’t always like that.”
