Fox 9 morning anchor Alix Kendall was getting ready for a breezy, long weekend getaway in New York last month when she fell face first onto the spire of a wrought iron fence.
“I seem to have a knack for clumsiness,” Kendall said with a laugh.
She was visiting a girlfriend in Minneapolis and playing with their dogs in her friend’s backyard when it happened.
“It was our first doggie play date,” Kendall said. “I was running after my dog, getting ready to leave, when I tripped over my feet and fell right on this spire. That’s where my head planted. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. And it was the worst possible place anyone could fall.”
Kendall’s friend packed snow around her head as they waited for the ambulance. “I was laying on the ground, losing a lot of blood,” she said. “It looked like a murder scene.”
On the way to the hospital, the emergency responder – who winced when he first saw her – offered Kendall fentanyl. “The same thing Prince overdosed on,” she said. “I was, like, ‘I don’t think I’m that bad off.’ They pumped me up with some other strong stuff.”
She needed it, given the state of Minneapolis’ streets. “They were full of potholes. You’d think an ambulance would have better suspension, but I felt every bump. It was a rough drive.”
Kendall remained conscious throughout and was relieved to hear she didn’t have a concussion. She did, however, have a serious gash above her left eyebrow – less than an inch away from her eye – that required 10 stitches. Kendall said she had hoped the cut was between her eyebrows, “so I could have a Frida Kahlo-style middle brow, but it didn’t work out that way.”
Not the first time
It turns out this isn’t the first time Kendall has damaged her head. In 2011, she was going to go skydiving for charity. “I went through the whole training process, but I must not have heard to duck when getting into the plane. I hit my head, fell off the stairs and ended up with 10 staples in my head. It’s kind of a running joke. I’m a klutz.”
Her accident slowed her down, but she still made the trip to New York and managed to make it to a Broadway play, “Fat Ham,” and enjoy time with friends.
Her throbbing headaches subsided after a few days and Kendall’s doctor has removed her stitches. Now, she’s dealing with the aftermath of the bruise.
“It’s been evolving into many different colors,” she said. “I have three concealer palettes as it evolves and changes.”
Back on the air
Kendall returned to the air Tuesday. “Since the station doesn’t have a makeup artist in the budget, I had to do it myself. And that’s way above my pay grade. I’ll give myself a C-minus.”
All that said, Kendall considers herself lucky.
“It would have been a different story if I had a concussion, that would have been a problem. Honestly, it’s just vanity at this point, covering up the bruise. I’m hoping this will never happen again. My doctor said to go out and buy a lottery ticket.”
