Boston news anchor hospitalized after medical emergency at work

BOSTON, MA – Channel 5 host Doug Meehan was sidelined Thursday due to a medical emergency after a day of work, Meehan said in a Tiktok video Saturday.

“Life moves pretty fast,” Meehan said in the short video, which appears to have been filmed in a hospital bed on Saturday afternoon. “A wonderful event took place at Gillette Stadium on Thursday. On Thursday evening I was taken to hospital by ambulance due to an intestinal obstruction.”

Meehan added that he had just had a feeding tube (or “NG”) removed. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the tube is inserted through the nose, down the esophagus, and into the stomach. In Meehan's case, as with many intestinal blockages, the tube was placed to “relieve pressure and prevent further complications from draining fluid or air.”

“That wasn’t fun,” Meehan said, adding that more updates would follow.

According to the Mayo Clinic, an intestinal obstruction is a blockage that prevents food or liquid from passing through your small intestine or large intestine.

“Causes of intestinal obstruction can include fibrous tissue bands (adhesions) in the abdomen that form after surgery, hernias, colon cancer, certain medications, or strictures due to inflamed intestines caused by certain diseases such as Crohn's disease or diverticulitis,” he said Scientists said the clinic.

According to the clinic, signs and symptoms of an intestinal obstruction include:

• Crampy abdominal pain that comes and goes
• Loss of appetite
• constipation
• Vomit
• Inability to have a bowel movement or pass gas
• swelling of the abdomen

Without treatment, the blocked parts of the intestines could die, which could lead to serious problems, the clinic said. However, the condition can be successfully treated with prompt medical care.

A graduate of Westfield State University, Meehan received his Bachelor of Arts in communications before eventually becoming co-anchor of NewsCenter 5's weekday EyeOpener newscasts, according to his station bio.

Prior to this role, Doug co-anchored WCVB's weekend EyeOpener newscasts. He joined WCVB in December 2015 from KPNX-TV in Phoenix, AZ, where he served as news anchor for nearly three years.

Under his TikTok video, which had more than 130,000 views as of Tuesday morning, fans took to the comments to express their congratulations and hope to see Meehan back on air soon.

“Doug, hang in there,” one commenter wrote. “I hope they were able to clear the blockage. I missed waking up with you. Well… I’m married, but you know what I mean.”