Longtime WGME anchor Kim Block has announced that she is leaving the station's anchor desk after 39 years.

In a video statement on the station's website, Block said about a year ago she suffered a concussion after a fall at her home.

We had recently had a nice thaw, but it was cold again and patches of melted water had refrozen. The soft, gentle, light snow was covering a very sizable chunk of ice that had formed near my front porch. In one single swoop, my feet came out from underneath me, and I landed hard. Now here's the scary part. It was the back of my head that broke my fall. It smashed not once, but popped up and smashed again, sending my body into a tailspin of whiplash and contortionist poses. And something happened I had never felt before. The gelatin like tissue that holds our brain smashed back and forth against the interior of my skull. It is in this process that our brain nerve cells are stretched and rendered non-functional, at least temporarily. Every single concussion is different, and most people will recover quickly - those brain cells have an amazing capacity to heal. But it can take a very long time.

She said the after effects of the concussion  led to vertigo, nausea, headaches and sensitivity to light and noise. Block said that while she "has come a long way" in the year since the injury, she still needs time to heal, and as a result, she will be stepping away from her role on the anchor desk.

I still need time to continue healing and I'm going to be taking it.

I'm officially stepping down from my position here on the anchor desk - one I've held for the past 39 years. I assure you this a mutual decision and I am incredibly grateful to my station and company for standing by me the past year. My co-workers have stepped up and stayed in touch and never once did I feel they weren't on my side.

See Block's video message in full below:

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