Fox 2 Detroit morning anchor Amy Andrews recovering from surgery after back injury
Fox 2 Detroit morning news anchor Amy Andrews took some time off last week for what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. This week, she is off the air after having a beach mishap that left her temporarily unable to walk.
Speaking by phone Tuesday morning from Royal Oak’s Beaumont Hospital, Andrews said she was running on a beach in Florida’s Tampa Bay region, where her father lives, when her foot hit a rock under the sand.
“I lost my footing,” she said, explaining the run was part of the training she had been doing for October’s Detroit Free Press Marathon.
Andrews took it easy after that, but her back felt progressively worse until “on the day it was time to come home, I woke up and I couldn’t walk because my right leg was numb.”
Relying on an injection for the pain and using a wheelchair to get on the plane, she returned to metro Detroit for treatment to get home to her 11-year-old daughter.
On Monday, she had minimally invasive spine surgery to remove herniated disc fragments in her lower back.
Dr. Daniel Park, who performed the surgery at Beaumont Royal Oak, said via email that such injuries can be treated successfully with physical therapy and medication, but “Amy was experiencing a significant amount of pain and could not walk, as her right leg was getting weaker.”
According to Park, the director of the minimally invasive orthopedic spine program and clinical spine research at the hospital, her recovery period should be about two to three weeks.
“We hope to get her back to the marathon training she loves within four to six weeks,” said Park.
A self-described “pretty hard-core athlete,” Andrews has dealt with back injuries throughout her life. But she said that “waking up and not being able to walk is a real scary feeling.”
Thanking the “amazing” staff at Beaumont for their care, she said she hopes to be discharged in one or two days — and that there is a chance she could return to work in as little as a week.
Andrews said she is grateful for the outpouring of good wishes she has received on social media. “The viewers are always the best and the prayers that they send … that just means the world to me.”
As she recuperates, her Fox 2 Detroit colleagues have rallied around her. “My TV family has come together to really help me out. … Jennifer Hammond, who’s our sports reporter, has my dog. Taryn (Asher, evening news anchor) and Jason (Carr, formerly of Fox 2 Detroit and now with WDIV Local 4) have my daughter right now. I’ve been very blessed with that.”
An Oakland University and Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts alum, Andrews worked for TV stations in Colorado, Nevada and Colorado before returning home to Michigan for a job at WNEM in the Flint market.
Ten years ago, she joined Fox 2 Detroit. Besides her morning anchor assignment, Andrews is known for her “Amy’s Angels” segments that spotlight people making a positive difference for others.