Right-wing blogger Cameron Slater, aka Whale Oil, suffered two strokes in October which have left him partially paralysed on his right side, unable to concentrate and with speech and vision impairments, according to a report today on his blog site, Whale Oil Beef Hooked.
Titled 'Where the hell is Cam?', the report blames media interest in the first stroke for the second and says he is recovering but that "Cam cannot concentrate, read or take phone calls for more than ten or fifteen minutes a day. He cannot cope with loud noises, background noises or being interrupted and he certainly does not have the ability to form complex thought structures. The vision in Cam's right eye has also been affected."
The report says medical results showing "zero nerve impulse conduction" from a test on his right arm suggest long-term loss of the ability to move that arm.
The blogger's medical condition had been fiercely protected since October, but "the time has now come", Whale Oil staff said in the post disclosing the extent of the disability affecting Slater. It also announced a fundraising drive to help Slater "pay the huge legal bills he has incurred as a result of having to defend himself from the lawfare of his enemies".
Slater is one defendant in a defamation action brought by three public health academics, based on leaked emails published in 2014 in Dirty Politics by investigative journalist and political activist Nicky Hager.
