In a rare public statement on his health, King Norodom Sihanouk said Wednesday he recently suffered a minor stroke and is feeling the effects of high blood pressure.
“My strength has become much weaker,” the 78-year-old King said. “Some days I take more than 20 medications. I cannot see all my children as I could before.”
The aging King said he felt he had “the disease that Americans call a stroke” because he feels some numbness in his hands, although he added the numbness was confined to a small area.
“I feel like falling,” he said. “That’s why officers sometimes carry me. Sometimes I fall down.”
The King has appeared shaky in recent public appearances, sometimes seeking help from his attendants as he greeted well-wishers.
He spoke Wednesday during a Royal Palace ceremony during which he greeted 151 elderly people and gave them 100,000 riel (about $25.60), 50 kg of rice and household items.
The ceremony was broadcast later Wednesday on TVK.
“I can live a long life because I have received lots of blessings from monks and my children,” the King said. “And I receive health care from the best Chinese doctors.”
According to a palace official who did not want to be named, there are no plans for the King to go to China for medical care, as he routinely does for a variety of ailments, including prostate cancer. He said the King would go on state TV and radio and tell the people before planning any trip to China. The King last returned from China in October.
