Thirteen years ago, bumping her head led TV personality Karlene Nation to discover a tumour that could have ended her life.

BY: Geena Lee

As a trailblazer, it’s no surprise that Karlene Nation was chosen to be a torchbearer for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Aside from being a trailblazer, Nation has also been a familiar face on Canadian TV screens for more than 16 years, serving as the diversity producer-reporter at CFTO and CTV. But, away from the spotlight, Nation is no stranger to struggle, having emigrated from Jamaica as a 17 year old single mom. On July 25, 1998, she faced a challenge that nearly took her life.

It began with an innocent news assignment. “I was sent to cover a hot air balloon festival in Milton. I was pretty excited and was like, ‘This isn’t work. This is fun!’” Eager to get in on the action, Nation decided to broadcast from one of the balloons. But, after two hours of being aloft, things began to go wrong.

“The navigator started looking a little nervous. We’d been blown way off course; then it got windy,” Nation remembers. As they attempted to land, the balloon got out of control. “It dropped, bounced right back up, dropped again — just like an elastic band,” she says. Desperately trying to keep her balance, Nation was violently tossed about in the basket. She eventually banged her head on an iron part of the balloon. Nation says the pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Eventually the rogue balloon was brought down, and Nation continued her report. “My talented cameraperson was shooting everything, so we had a great story that aired over and over again. [With comments like]: ‘And here’s Karlene, screaming her head off’. It was a fantastic story.”

Two days after the incident, Nation began to experience a severe headache that wouldn’t go away. By the fourth day Nation says the pain felt like “it was pushing my eyes out of their sockets.” She soon began vomiting and passing out. Nation’s mother, Veta Robinson, who is a nurse, whisked her to a hospital. Within about two hours of the initial pain, Nation says it went from bad to a lot worse. A CAT scan revealed a large mass at the base of her skull. It was a benign pituitary tumour. “The head trauma had activated the tumour and caused it to blow up massively in my head. It became engorged with blood and was on the verge of killing me,” she says.

Nation was rushed to Toronto Western Hospital, which specializes in head trauma and brain tumours. By the time she emerged from the MRI machine, Nation had lost her eyesight. “My sister was helping me to get dressed and I was touching her face saying, ‘Annie, I can’t see you.’ She freaked out and got the doctors.” Nation was immediately wheeled into surgery and the tumour was removed. Although she eventually regained her eyesight, she was left with permanent double vision and no peripheral vision. She says she remembers begging the doctor to fix it and being told that it wasn’t possible.

Disappointed with her new reality, but grateful to be alive, Nation came to terms with her situation and focused on recovery. But even that had a rocky start, as she contracted meningitis while still in hospital. To top it off, doctors then discovered a mysterious hole in her head, which earned Nation another trip to the operating room. “They took tissue from my leg and stuffed it in my head to close the hole,” she says. “I always say I have foot in head problems.”

Nation remained in hospital for three months. With the support of family, she began a 10-month-long recovery process. A pituitary tumour affects hormone production, so Nation began taking artificial replacements, but none of them worked well for her. Utilizing her journalistic skills, Nation researched alternative solutions and, by consulting with a series of doctors, found medication that worked in conjunction with naturopathic supplements.

Nation hopes her experience will serve as a warning to others. “Interestingly enough, most of us are walking around with brain tumours we don’t know we have,” she says. “The quickest way to find out is to have your eyes checked, and get a hormonal blood test.” She also urges people to take headaches seriously, especially when they’re accompanied by vomiting . “Don’t ignore it. If I had acted sooner I don’t think I would have lost as much sight” she says.

Almost 13 years after her ordeal, Nation is positive. She says she holds no bitterness toward her health issues. “People are going through terrible things, why not me? My whole life has been about overcoming obstacles and challenges. It’s never been easy,” she says. “The main lesson for me is that things will happen that you’ll have no control over, and you have to find a way to overcome it.”

Nation has triumphed and says she is feeling good about life. “I have a wonderful family, a wonderful work environment and wonderful friends,” she says, before adding humourously, “All I need is a good husband, and you can print that.”