The Housewives' trip to Spain included a terrifying moment for one of the women.
Crystal Kung Minkoff had quite the scare on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Wednesday's episode of the Bravo series picked up with the ladies in Spain, where their cars had pulled over to the side of the road after Crystal announced that she felt ill.
"These are like stroke symptoms," Crystal told the ladies through tears.
Dorit Kemsley was likewise concerned, telling the cameras, "She's gray, she's sweaty, her hands are swollen, her veins are raised. What if something is truly wrong with her?"
Annemarie Wiley, a nurse anesthetist, was quick to take charge of the situation, an ironic turn of events given her argument with Crystal about her profession. Regardless, Annemarie was all business while determining that Crystal was going through a "hypertensive crisis" that could lead to a stroke if not handled properly.
When an ambulance arrived at the scene, Crystal's blood pressure was high. While Annemarie offered to go to the hospital with Crystal, production staff stepped in to do that.
Instead, the women headed in a church to pray for Crystal. Later, they received a call from her, revealing that she was hooked up to an IV and being given anti-nausea medicine, but was set to be released later that day.
While the women dined out, Kyle Richards praised Annemarie for setting aside her drama with Crystal to come to her aid. Annemarie responded by saying that while she takes her job seriously, she was still hurt by Crystal's past comments.
Back at the house, Crystal told the women she had a hypertension incident and was given medication to help. In tears, Crystal, who was being comforted by Annemarie, told the women, "I didn't know it could get to this point."
"It was so scary," Crystal said in confessional of her health scare. "My dad had always told me the signs to watch out for a stroke. Some people can't come back. I've never been faced with, like, my own mortality. How could I leave my young family at 40 years old if that happened to me? I really appreciate Annemarie being there for me and putting aside all our differences in the moment. That was truly what felt like the bottom for me, I just want to be OK for my family."
After a FaceTime call with her husband, Rob Minkoff, Crystal vowed to move forward with Annemarie after seeing a kind, caring side of her during the frightening experience.
During the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: After Show, Crystal further spoke about the situation, saying, "It was very scary. I don't get sick very often, so I tend to find reasons. I'm jetlagged. I'm dehydrated. I didn't get enough sleep. And then I look at my veins and they're, like, bulging. You could see the blood pumping out of my veins and my hands [were] just dripping in sweat."
Annemarie also spoke about her decision to intervene, explaining, "As a registered nurse, I have a duty to take care of somebody if they need something, so that's what I'm doing. Regardless of whether I like her or not, whether she lies about me or not, if somebody is in distress you're going to help them. Period."
"I just looked at her and she looked at me and it was like, we're not doing all that anymore. That was over, and now we're in this moment," Crystal said. "She really helped me. It just shifted our relationship. She was the only person I wanted to be around me. I felt very comfortable. I was kind of in and out by that point, but I remember wanting to let her know that I appreciated her."
Then, in an interview with ET's Brice Sander, Crystal revealed that she actually started feeling ill the night before she was taken to the hospital.
"When I look back at the episode, I can tell that I'm already starting to feel it the night before," she told ET. "The part where Sutton was asking me to stand up for myself, I don't even remember that, so I think I was already feeling very sick by then."
As for why she was so sure she was nearing a stroke, Crystal explained, "My dad had a history of high blood pressure, hypertension, and so he had taught me when he was alive to show the signs."
"I started feeling the signs and I was telling Garcelle [Beauvais] in the car like, 'I don't want to scare you, but these are the signs of a stroke.' And then when I got out of the car, I just knew it," she said. "I was not surprised that my blood pressure was where it was, at it was 177 over 130. I knew I was close to having a stroke, so I went to the hospital and my doctor got involved with the hospital."
When it comes to Annemarie, Crystal told ET, "I really appreciate it that she helped me, and it's moments like that that put things into perspective. I don't know if we're ever gonna be best friends, but I'm glad she has a day job and that's that is what she does."
Crystal, who's now on medication for her blood pressure, noted that she learned an important lesson from the scary experience.
"No matter how old or young you are you can you know go through things. When I was 36, I ended up getting shingles. I always considered myself a really healthy person, but I do have these issues, and so it's really about making sure you check yourself and don't ignore things," she said. "I ignored it too long to where I ended up in the hospital. That's my life lesson for myself."
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays on Bravo.
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