By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos
ASHEVILLE, UNITED STATES (BosNewsLife)– American evangelist Billy Graham was hospitalized
Wednesday, November 30, near his home in the U.S. state of North Carolina for evaluation and treatment of his lungs amid concerns he may suffer pneumonia, his organization said.
The 93-year-old Graham, an adviser to several U.S. presidents who preached to millions around the world, arrived at Mission Hospital in Asheville, where he will be “tested for pneumonia” after suffering from congestion, a cough and a slight fever, added spokesman A. Larry Ross.
Upon admittance, he was alert, smiling and waving at hospital staff, said the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
It quoted Graham’s personal physician, Lucian Rice as saying that “Mr. Graham’s condition is stable.”
CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY?
While no date has been set for discharge, “Mr. Graham is looking forward to returning home to spend the upcoming Christmas holiday with his family,” BGEA added in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife.
Graham was previously hospitalized for successful treatment of pneumonia in May, 2011.
He resumed his ongoing program of physical therapy and normal activity shortly after release, according to his staff. This included finalizing his most recent book, “Nearing Home,” published last month, and a new project “reaffirming the evangelistic message he has preached for more than 60 years,” explained BGEA.
For six decades, Graham led a worldwide crusade-based ministry that packed stadiums with believers and allowed him to counsel every U.S. president since Harry Truman.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
His health problems have made it difficult to continue preaching. Besides suffering pneumonia, Graham was hospitalized after he tripped and fell over one of his dogs in 2008.
Earlier that same year, he had elective surgery on a shunt that controls excess fluid on his brain. The shunt was first installed in 2000 and drains fluid through a small tube, relieving excess pressure that can cause symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, according to people with close knowledge about the situation.
Graham has also suffered from prostate cancer and was hospitalized in 2007 for nearly two weeks after experiencing intestinal bleeding. His wife, Ruth Bell Graham, died in June 2007.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association he founded is now run by Graham’s son, Franklin.
