On Monday, October 20, 2025, Gumbel was rushed by ambulance from his Manhattan apartment to a nearby New York City hospital around 9 p.m. after suffering an unspecified "medical emergency," as first reported by TMZ. He remained under treatment as of Tuesday, October 21, but by Friday, October 24, a source familiar with the emergency told Page Six, “He’s not dying. He’s expected to recover” and make a full recovery. Gumbel's family has stayed tight-lipped on specifics.
The incident marks at least the second major health challenge for Gumbel in recent years. In 2009, he quietly underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his lung, a detail, few outside his inner circle knew of the diagnosis at the time. More recently, in August 2021, Gumbel shared he'd lost 55 pounds through rigorous workouts, crediting the change to feeling "better than I have in years" post-retirement.
The scare comes less than a year after the death of his older brother, fellow sportscaster Greg Gumbel, who passed away in December 2024 at 78 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.