2013 flashback: Kim 'The Kimmer' Peterson has heart attack but is okay

ajc.com

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

This was posted November 23, 2013 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

This past Sunday afternoon, just six days after Kim "the Kimmer" Peterson started his new show on All News 106.7, he said he felt a "gripping pain" in his chest and broke into sweats while driving. He pulled over, rested, then continued home.

Despite continued discomfort, the 63-year-old Marine vet worked yesterday on Veteran's Day. But the pain didn't totally go away. So he finally decided to check into the North Fulton Hospital in Alpharetta this morning and discovered he had what doctors termed a "serious heart attack."

Doctors are still doing tests and will find out by tomorrow how serious the blockage may be. He hopes they can just fix it with a balloon but it's too early to know the severity, he said.

When I called him this afternoon, he said he felt much better while waiting in ICU.

"I'm pissed off about this," he said. "I just started again!"

His producer and sidekick Pete Davis covered for him today from noon to 3 p.m. The Kimmer said he will likely be off for at least a couple more days. His former producer Wayne "No Offense" Kitchens, now a Delta mechanic, will come in and help out while he's out.

The Kimmer hosted a popular talk show on news/talk 640/WGST-AM from 1992 until  2006 and had been in retirement until last week.

Atlanta-based Cumulus, which owns All News 106.7, also announced that former GST program director Randall Bloomquist has been hired as the corporate director for news/talk stations across the Cumulus empire. (And former Dave FM program director Scott Jameson has become the corporate director for rock stations at Cumulus, as well.)

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