The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • F3

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: LIV DESK: LIV DATE: 05-07-2006 EDITION: FLA ZONE: FLA PAGE: F3.0 DEADLINE: 18.48 OP: walden COMPOSETIME: 17.35 CMYK SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2006 F3 Orlando Sentinel PEOPLE behind EM 1 5 8 Ti 8 back. And hard to go through this. They think I have money. Money doesn't help." What are the main lessons he has learned? 'Take care of yourself, be thin and regular checkups," he says. More than 700,000 Americans suffer strokes annually, and it is the third leading cause of death in the country.

African-Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to have a stroke. McEwen had been taking medication for high blood pressure. During a visit to Baltimore, he suffered extreme nausea and dizziness. He was hospitalized with what doctors thought was stomach flu. He had a mini-stroke, his wife says.

In returning to Orlando, he suffered a massive stroke as the plane landed. His stroke was in the cerebellum, in the lower back of the brain, and he lost his fine motor skills and balance. He was hospitalized for a month. He didn't have any paralysis or memory loss. He used a wheelchair for a month, then a walker for another month.

MARK McEWEN MORNING ANCHOR AT WKMG-CHANNEL 6 Wll RED HUBERORLANDO SENTINEL Among friends: WKMG-Channel 6 morning traffic reporter Secily Wilson takes a snapshot while Mark McEwen (seated, center) basks in the affection of his colleagues during a visit to the station Wednesday. McEwen' road to recovery After suffering a stroke in November, the TV anchorman is regaining his voice and looking forward to a return to the air. "I almost died," McEwen says. "This illness doesn't discriminate between rich-poor, black-white, male-female. That's my calling." WKMG is committed to incorporating a spokesman's role in his work, station boss Maldonado says: "His mission now is bigger than just, 'I want to be an anchor person or get involved in the McEwen joined WKMG in 2004 to help pump up the station's weak morning news.

He succeeded. He also threw himself into community events. His enthusiasm and national profile quickly established him as a local celebrity. Since his stroke, fans have sent along get-well wishes through e-mails or in person. "The people of Orlando come up to me when I'm shopping and say, 'Hey, it's good to see you McEwen says.

"Friends say he's always smiling, and he is," Denise McEwen says. "He's grateful to be alive. There's been a tremendous difference from the time it happened till now." More encouragement has come morning news. His wife, Denise, has seen dramatic improvement. "He's getting his inflections back, and he sounds more like Mark," she says.

"His personality is coming through." But his voice is not where he wants it to be. "I need to be less choppy and more fluid with my speech," McEwen says. To reach that goal, he reads the newspaper aloud every day. He has three-hour therapy sessions four times a week. He works out in the afternoons he has lost 25 pounds.

He's going into the office on Wednesdays. Last week, his early-morning colleagues showed their regard with hugs and words of encouragement. "I'm seeing the improvement that he and his wife don't see day to day," says Skip Valet, WKMG's news director. "It's been steady." When McEwen returns to the air, he says he'll be a different guy. He has a mission to talk about strokes and their prevention.

"I want people to know it's hard for everyone," he says. "It's hard to come from celebrity friends (Tony Bennett, Garth Brooks) and former colleagues, such as Harry Smith of The Early Show. WKMG's early-morning news, anchored by Jacquie Sosa and substitute Maria Weech, relays fans' good thoughts to him. Has McEwen been itching to return to the air? "Boy, have he says, chuckling. "I've been home too long.

The people here have treated me very well Orlando and Local 6. I'm in the right place." Did he ever doubt that? "Everyone who comes here from New York, they think Orlando is not for them," he says. "It is for me." When McEwen returns to the air, WKMG will salute him with a prime-time documentary. The station is tracing his recovery. McEwen is taking home movies and keeping a diary.

"We want people to see what Mark went through to appreciate who Mark is and the seriousness of what a stroke can do," Maldonado says. But there's the matter of when he'll return. McEwen says his therapist has suggested August. "I will be in to rehearse all of July, and August 1 should be the date," McEwen says. And if not then, later.

He will return at the right time, his wife and bosses say. 'The doctors and the therapists say I will make a full recovery," McEwen says. "That is crucial. I will be back on TV." Hal Boedeker can be reached at hboedekerorlandosentinel.com or 407420-5756. By HAL B0EDEKER SENTINEL TELEVISION CRITIC Broadcaster Mark McEwen is famous for his cheerful manner.

Even when discussing the worst thing that happened to him the stroke that nearly killed him, knocked him off television and sapped his voice he remains upbeat. "They say if I had any other job, I would be back already," he says in soft, halting tones. "Because I talk for a living, it takes longer." McEwen, a morning anchor at WKMG-Channel 6, suffered a massive stroke in mid-November during a flight home to Orlando. He has been off the news ever since, and it's uncertain when he'll return. Late summer, he hopes.

His bosses are hesitant to set a date. "I don't want to push him into doing something that is ahead of the schedule he should be keeping," says Henry Maldonado, WKMG's general manager. "This is a tough situation." At 51, McEwen had to learn to talk and walk again. He speaks frankly about his progress. He knows he has more to do.

"My voice is the biggest challenge," he says. "I look fine. I came back here to WKMG six weeks ago. I wanted them to see me. When they see me, they say, 'You'll come When they hear me, they don't say that." Shortly after the stroke, his voice was very high.

He smiles when recalling it was in Minnie Mouse territory. Now it's closer to the range that was familiar during his 16 years on CBS' This illness doesn discriminate between rich-poor, black-white, male-female. That's my calling!.