Bermuda Broadcasting Company's news director is recovering after nearly dying as Hurricane Igor approached.

Tracey Neale, who is a Bermudian award-winning journalist, was one of the last residents to be rushed into the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital before the full impact of the Category One hurricane hit.

As soon as it was safe she was taken to Boston by air ambulance where she remained until last month.

She told her charity, Veronica's Story which advocates for orphans the experience tested her physical and emotional endurance.

“I suffered a major medical crisis that left me face down on the staircase fighting for my next breath,” she wrote. “My four-year-old twins witnessed the frightening scene unfold.

“It happened just as Hurricane Igor began to bear down on Bermuda. An ambulance was able to get to the house and rush me to the local hospital just before it went into lock-down mode.

“I had to be resuscitated twice and my family was informed my condition was grave.

“As soon as the airport opened I was placed on a ‘life flight'; to an Intensive Care Unit and Acute Care Unit in Boston, where I would remain until November.

“I've learned to walk again, to use my hands, to speak and even see.

“It has been quite a journey of faith and tested my physical and emotional endurance.”

Mrs Neale thanked everyone who has sent prayers and cards as well as those who stepped in to help take care of her daughters and run the family home while she was recovering.

Mrs Neale returned to Bermuda in 2009 after spending 15 years working as a reporter and news anchor at CBS and Fox News in the US.