Former sports anchor Mike Lynch raising money for facility that saved his life
By Mary Saladna
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NORTON, Massachusetts (WCVB) — We all know him as the legendary, award-winning sportscaster who called Channel 5 home for nearly four decades, but these days, Mike Lynch proudly adds survivor to his name.
“No warning. The Celtics were playing at 8:30. I went for a walk around the block. My wife was walking the opposite direction. She said, ‘What happened to your right arm?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ And then boom, face first, down into the grass,” Lynch said.
In May 2022, Lynch was rushed to Mass General after suffering a stroke.
“It was a massive stroke. It was a hemorrhagic stroke — a brain bleed,” Lynch said.
After four days in the hospital, Lynch’s doctors sent him to Spaulding Rehabilitation in Charlestown.
“I don’t know where I’d be without Spaulding,” he said. “I really, really don’t.”
“Every day my confidence level went up a notch — every single day,” Lynch said to a group at TPC Boston, where a daylong golf tournament was held and stories of strength were shared.
For Lynch, it was a chance to give back to the team that got him back to living again and to give to the next patient who needs Spaulding’s customized care.
“They push you, but they know exactly — exactly — how far you can go. They know how far you can walk, how many steps you can take,” Lynch said. “I said, ‘I can’t do that.’ She said, ‘Yes, you can. Yes, you can.’ That’s what they say all the time: ‘Yes, you can,’” Lynch said.
Spaulding has been teaming up and teeing off with TPC Boston for 22 years. It has raised nearly $7 million to date, not just to support rehab efforts but to fuel research.
“To be able to find different, innovative treatment techniques or different things for patients to continue to help people get better faster,” said Cara Brickley, vice president of operations and director of inpatient therapy at Spaulding.
As for Lynch, he is still doing outpatient therapy, and he is not done yet.
“Until I’m out here playing 18 holes of golf, the progress will continue, and I’m dying to get out here and play, and I will someday,” Lynch said.
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