Bishop T.D. Jakes has disclosed that the medical incident that occurred as he spoke before his Dallas megachurch in November was a “massive heart attack.”
“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance and fussing that it happened onstage, by the way, because I didn’t want it to happen, and the doctor leaned over my ear and said, ‘You had a massive heart attack,’” Jakes said on NBC’s “Today” show in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
Jakes, 67, who also is an author and business executive, suffered what his church initially called “a slight health incident” at The Potter’s House during the Nov. 24 worship service. On that occasion, about a dozen people rushed to his side after he lowered his microphone and was shaking in his seat.
“The reason I didn’t realize it was because I had none of the symptoms that they say,” Jakes said in the interview about the heart attack with “Today” co-anchor Craig Melvin, adding that the doctor said he would have been dead on arrival had he reached the hospital five minutes later.
“The right side of my heart had completely stopped getting blood at all.”
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Jakes’ lawyers filed a defamation suit on his behalf the day after the incident, saying Pennsylvania minister Duane Youngblood had falsely accused him of attempted sexual assault. The suit, which linked the accusations to Jakes’ health, was later followed by additional sexual misconduct allegations by another minister, the Rev. Richard Edwin Youngblood, the brother of the first accuser.
Jakes spoke about the case during the “Today” interview, describing Duane Youngblood as someone who has been “arrested as a child predator twice and convicted” and who is seeking to have the defamation suit dismissed.
“We’re living in a time of misinformation and disinformation that’s hard to live with,” Jakes said. “Some people don’t see you as an individual. They see you as an opportunity.”
He added that he likewise felt it necessary for his legal team to ask a federal court to subpoena Google to reveal who posted videos about Jakes on YouTube that were generated by artificial intelligence.
“Killing people’s character has become a business,” he told Melvin.
Jakes, who a recent survey listed as the second most popular choice in 2019-2020 that Black Protestant leaders would like to invite to speak to their congregations (after Barack and/or Michelle Obama), appeared ready to move forward with upcoming events and projects. He is scheduled to interview Oprah Winfrey at his 2025 Good Soil Forum on entrepreneurialism in June.
Melvin asked Jakes if he recalled having a near-death experience in November.
“In my mind, I was in a quiet, peaceful, serene, white-enveloped, cloud-enveloped space,” Jakes responded. “I was on my way out. And it was — afterwards in retrospect, it was such a privilege to stand on the other side, to get a little glimpse of what that might be like or at least what it was like in that moment for me. I think it was absolutely amazing.”
Jakes also reiterated his appreciation for the prayers of people in and beyond his congregation.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank them,” he said.
Adelle Banks es editora de producción y corresponsal nacional de Religion News Service.
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5 Responses
sorry, but as a person who has had 2 heart attacks and a week in ICU, I find his story hard to believe. I saw the video of the service and it looked so fake and staged. ( I do realize that people experience things in different ways). Soon after, the video came out from family that he was resting at home. Then another came out, and another; all saying different things. Then a few days later he is videoed leaving the hospital in a wheelchair saying he almost died and it was a miracle. no revealing he had surgery and he is a miracle. I’m sure he had stents (which is serious) but if he had “surgery” he wouldn’t be in a position to be sitting up like that. It all seems too convenient and is a distraction away from his other issues going on.
“We’re living in a time of misinformation and disinformation that’s hard to live with,” Jakes said.
This is the person whose news release about a “massive heart attack” called it a “slight health incident.” Perhaps he could think about how he has contributed to the troublesome situation of one’s not being able to believe what anyone says, especially a “pastor.”
I have concerns about his integrity … for lots of reasons. But he definitely showed his true colors when he hung out with P Ditty and is going to interview Oprah Winfrey.
I don’t think TD Jakes’s health is any of my (or anyone’s) business, so I don’t understand putting out obviously false information rather than staying quiet.
TD Jakes’ health isn’t any of my business either but, I do think it’s his congregation’s business. Especially since the incident occurred during a worship service. I mean after all he is their pastor.