CBS Anchor Breaks Silence 2 Years After Serious Brain Injury

Barbara-Lee Edwards was a fixture in San Diego journalism as the evening anchor for KFMB-TV CBS News 8 for almost two decades before her life changed instantly in December 2020. That’s when Edwards suffered a near-fatal brain bleed at her home. Two years after the brain injury, Edwards said she is leading a “full life” in Leucadia.

Edwards suffered the brain injury on Dec. 23, 2020, after she got home from the 11 p.m. broadcast. She was rushed to the hospital and her doctors found blood in her brain. She spent 10 days at Scripps Memorial La Jolla’s intensive care unit. Her doctors said she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a burst vein in her brain. Although she survived, there is lasting damage. She told the San Diego Union-Tribune last month that she struggled with finding words in conversations. Her eyes were also sensitive to light and her ears to loud sounds. She also had flu-like symptoms and struggled with sleeping. “The doctors described my brain injury as like living the rest of your life with a concussion,” Edwards said.

After a 10-month leave of absence, Edwards announced she was leaving KFMB in October 2021 to focus on her health. In the profile published on Nov. 13, Edwards said she has come to terms with never working in live broadcasting again. However, she is now looking forward to her new life with her husband, Curtis Walz, and spending more time with their two children.

“I’m leading a full life now,” Edwards told the Union-Tribune. “I’m hoping to get back to playing tennis soon. My husband and I just enjoyed our first two-week vacation ever. And I’ve been enjoying cooking and baking again.”

Edwards is interested in returning to television, but possibly as a host for pre-recorded segments. She is also open to the idea of telling her story or even writing a book. “I don’t want to put a date on it or push too much,” she said. “My overwhelming feeling right now is I’m just grateful to be here.”

KFMB has offered Edwards a job at the station, but Edward said she does not want to come back until she is completely ready. Her doctors told her it was unlikely she could work in live broadcasting because the part of her brain that allows her to multitask has not recovered.

“There’s something about exposing what’s wrong with me that I’m not sure about,” she told the Union-Tributne. “Maybe I could just go on the air and talk about my experience of navigating the world with a brain injury and just show people the reality of that. And maybe I could just laugh about it and go on.”

Today, Edwards is enjoying life with her husband and their golden retriever, Charlotte. Edwards and Walz, a Compass Real Estate broker, recently took a long trip to Europe. They are also reconnecting with their children. Kristen Walz is working at CBS News in New York while Rady Walz is in college and playing with local bands.