Angela Yee confronted grief and urgency on her Way Up with Angela Yee platform in New York City as the veteran radio and media personality revealed the sudden death of her only brother while urging listeners to take health warnings seriously and prepare for the unexpected.
The emotional disclosure unfolded during a raw on air conversation that quickly shifted from personal loss to public service.
Yee explained that her brother died from an aneurysm after experiencing days of intense headaches that did not initially register as a medical emergency for him or his family. The first sign something was wrong came through absence rather than alarm when he stopped responding in the family group chat.
“He’s very active in our group text like our family chat every day,” Yee said. “He’s a person that if you call him he’s going to answer if you text him he answers right back.”
That silence prompted action.
Yee said her mother used a spare key to enter his home and found him on the floor. Emergency responders arrived but protocol required a prolonged wait for police and the medical examiner before the family could return inside. Because he was alone and appeared to have fallen authorities had to rule out foul play.
Doctors later confirmed an aneurysm as the cause of death.
Yee shared that her brother had complained of severe headaches in the days before he died and tried to manage the pain on his own.
“He had been saying he had really bad headaches a couple of days before that they were so bad he had to take three Advil,” she said. “When you feel like pain like that and it feels out of the ordinary it is important to see a doctor because again like you never know what could happen.”
Yee acknowledged how easy it is to minimize symptoms especially for people who consider themselves healthy and active.
“I probably would have did what he did take some Advil and go and lay down,” she said.
Beyond the medical warning Yee spoke about another reality families often avoid. At 51 her brother had never discussed burial preferences or end of life wishes leaving relatives to make weighty decisions during shock and grief.
“They’re like does he want to be cremated does he want we never even discussed that,” she said.
As arrangements move forward Yee asked friends and listeners to send photos for a memorial slideshow to bookAngelaYee@gmail.com.
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