Meghan Markle's father needs a 'year to get speech back' after stroke, says sister

Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle Sr., would need a speech therapist to help him talk again after he suffered a stroke.

The 77-year-old reportedly had to write down his symptoms for the paramedics when he was rushed to the hospital on Monday night because he could not talk. According to the Duchess of Sussex's half-sister, Samantha Markle, the stroke could have been fatal had she not talked to her father on the phone and noticed his slurred speech.

She told Dan Wootton in a video interview on GB News, "I'm just so thankful to God that I called him when I did because he was slurring his speech, he couldn't talk. I feel like had we not got emergency care right away, it could have been fatal. So I feel really blessed that he's getting some of his strength back."

Talking about Thomas Sr.'s health, the author of "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1" shared that he is on the mend. Fighting back tears, she said that "he is doing better" and that "he's in good spirits."

Samantha admitted, "It's still hard for me to talk about it because he's been through so much - the heart attack, a pandemic, a stroke. I don't think he saw it coming but he's doing better, he's in good spirits."

When asked about the severity of the stroke, she said that the 77-year-old may need therapy to get his speech back. It could take him six months to a year to work with a speech therapist.

Samantha explained, "The damage he had in the speech-producing part of the brain wasn't so big that he can't recover. But you know when you're almost 80 years old, there's less plasticity and things are more difficult."

She added that her father still "has the memory of the words and the associations." She explained that "the stroke was on the right side of the brain, so the damage was on the left and he's left-handed." But she said that it also impaired not just his speech but also "his ability to swallow."

Samantha's interview comes amid calls for Meghan Markle to reconcile with Thomas Sr. The royal is urged to pay his father a visit and allow him to see his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet while he is recovering.